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ISSUES IN INDIANADMINISTRATION

STUDY MATERIAL

THIRD SEMESTER

ELECTIVE : PS3E02

For

M.A.POLITICAL SCIENCE(2017 ADMISSION ONWARDS)

UNIVERSITY OF CALICUTSCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATIONCalicut University P.O, Malappuram, Kerala, India 673 635

School of Distance Education

Issues in Indian Administration

UNIVERSITY OF CALICUTSCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

STUDY MATERIAL

THIRD SEMESTER

MA POLITICAL SCIENCE(2017 ADMISSION ONWARDS)

ELECTIVE :

PS3E02 : ISSUES IN INDIAN ADMINISTRATION

Prepared by :

Dr. Manoj Kumar.Assistant Professor,Department of Political Science,Govt. College, Kottayam.

Layout: SDE ‘H’ Section©

Reserved



CONTENTS

Module Title Page No.

I Indian Administration 5 – 44

II Central Administration 45 – 61

III State Administration 62 – 71

IV Local Administration 72 – 87

V Analysis of Indian Administration 88 – 106

VI Challenges to the Indian administration 107 – 128



MODULE - I

INTRODUCTION

1.1.Evolution of Indian AdministrationThe evolution of Indian Administration can be traced back to the Vedic period. Though

India in its modern sense is a recent origin in comparison with the Vedic era, the genesis ofadministration can be indebted to the distant past attached to the Vedic age. India had amonarchical form of government and had a great tradition of village administration. Theearliest known grassroots level administration was carried out through a village system ofadministration. A sort of decentralisation along with its antithesis; centralisation of power witha monarchical head was prevalent in ancient India. History of Indian administration traces itsearliest known form to the monarchical system. Since the earliest times, the monarchicalsystem was used in public administration in the execution of governmental functions. In thelong history of Indian administration, a number of administrative organisations rose and fell.However, there are two basic features of the Indian administrative system which continuedright down the ages- the importance of the villages as a primary unit and co-ordinationbetween the two opposite trends of centralisation and decentralisation. To put it in a nutshellthe present administration is a developed since from Vedic period. Abundant sources areavailable to get a clear picture of the history of Indian administrative system. A lot ofinformation regarding the organisation and functions of Indian administration is obtained fromVedic literature, Buddhist treatises, Jain literature, Dharmasastras, Indian Puranas, Ramayanas,Mahabharata, Manu Smriti, SukraNiti and Arthashastra1.1.Vedic tradition

Indian 'Administration' traces its earliest known form to the tribal system which lateremerges as a monarchical system. We gain a lot of knowledge about ancient IndianAdministration from ancient religious and political treatises. In the early Vedic period therewere many tribes who elected their own chiefs and he handled all their responsibilities and theadministration of the tribes and the Sabha (Assembly of elders) and Samiti (Assembly ofpeople) were the tribal assemblies. The chief protected the tribe but had no revenue system orhold over land thus wars were resorted to and the booty shared among the tribes.

The Vedic tradition of administration was related to the concept of wisdom thatdevelopment was associated with the purity, the ethics and morale, the karma-yoga, theknowledge, the evenness of mind, objectivity of work and the selfless faith in action ordetachment from the results etc. The Vedic tradition of administration had been subscribed tocertain values like humility, pride, self-control, steadfastness, renunciation, absence of ego etc..A civilised society was expected to give way for attainment of ‘purushartha’; Dharma(Righteousness/Religion), Artha (Economic Development), Kama (Sense Gratification) andMoksha (Liberation). In other words a civilised society was the one which had control overthe four ‘purushartha’ and it was the duty of the administrator to facilitate social environmentfir self-actualisation in line with ‘purushartha’.

The law and justice were connected to the concept of Dharma in the influencing era ofthe Vedic age. The Dharma was speaking of a proper and natural development of a universal



moral order in line with morality and religious teachings. The first form of the 'State' in Indiacan be traced back to the times of Manu(original name Satyavrata) the first King andprogenitor of mankind according to Hinduism. People were fed up with anarchy as there wasno neutral judge/arbitrator in between to solve issues of society, and so they appointed Manuas King and paid service fees as taxes for looking after them and ensuring mutual benefit andjustice to everyone in society owing to his wisdom and philosophical attitude and the King wasdivine and regarded as descended from God.1.2. Buddhism and evolution of Sangha rules

Being moved by the then existing social order, Siddhartha Gautama, who had been wellversed with the Sanskrit smrti, the Dharmasastras and Dharmasutras, abandoned the worldlylife and perused new social life devoted to search for truth and peace. The enlightenedSiddhartha alias Buddha had designed a code for Sangha system of life; was called theVinayaPitaka. The system of rules given in the VinayaPitaka was in the form of Sanga rules.

The VinayaPitaka, the first division of the Tipitaka1, provides a textural frameworkupon which the Sangha (monastic community) was built. The Buddhist leagal system wasSangha oriented. The VinayaPitaka had elaborations on how harmonious relations could bemaintained within Sangha and the prototcols to be maintained among the monks (bhikkhu) orthe nuns (bhikkhuni ).The Pratimoksa2 in ViniayaPitaka contains the list of offences from leastsignificance to the most serious nature along with remedies. To inculcate social order thebuddist monks chant the Pratimoksa twice a month.1.3. Jainism

Being perched with a social system known for vertical as well as horizontal divisions,the Jainism put forward realistic solution for division in Indian society.The distinctive Jain takeon karma is that it is an actual, material substance. This is in contrast with Buddhism, wherekarma is a kind of psychic energy with which only volitional actions are infused, or Hinduism,where it tends to be a kind of universal law of attraction. Karmic particles pervade the cosmosand are drawn to the soul, or jiva, of a living being by the passions that distort a soul’s inherentpurity as a consequence of its affective reactions to stimuli. A major emphasis of Jainism istherefore ascetic practice that is designed to curb the reactions of attraction and aversion thatwe generally feel for pleasant and unpleasant experiences, as well as to purge the soul of thekarmic particles already present within it. The soul in a state of calm equanimity does notattract additional karmic matter. And the unpleasant experiences associated with asceticpractice—the hunger induced by fasting, or the discomfort of meditating for long periods inuncomfortable positions—borne patiently, can accelerate the ‘burning off’ of bad karma.1.4. Dharmasastras

The term dharmasastra, in a general sense, is used for both the dharma-sutras, whichare in prose, and the dharma-sastrasstrictosensu, which are in verse. The individual dharma-

1Traditional term for Buddhist literature.2The Pratimoksha vows comprise the basic rules of monastic discipline. Novice monks and nuns takethirty-six vows. Fully-ordained male and female sangha (bhikshus and bhikshunis) are governed by 227to 354 vows depending on the school and tradition. These rules are contained in the Vinaya, thecollection of the Buddha’s teachings on monastic discipline.



sutras and dharmasastras are also called smrtis, and the entire corpus of these texts is referredto as part of "the" smrti (literally, "memory"), i.e., a form of revelation inferior only to thehigher form of revelation contained in the several Vedic texts (sruti). They are Sanskrit writtentexts on religious and legal duties. Dharmashastras are voluminous and there are hundreds ofsuch texts. The two most important features of the Dharmashastras are that they provide rulesfor the life of an ideal householder and they contain the Hindu knowledge about religion, law,and ethics and so on.1.5.1. Topics covered in the Dharmashastra:

Dharmashastra contains three categories or topics. The first is the âchâra, whichprovides rules on daily rituals, life-cycle rites, as well as specific duties and proper conductthat each of the four castes or varnas have to follow. The daily rituals include practices aboutdaily sacrifices, the kind of food to eat and how to obtain them, and who can give and who canaccept religious gifts. The life-cycle rites are the rituals that are conducted on important eventsin one's life like birth, marriage, and tying of the sacred thread. Acharas also provide rules forduties for all the ashrama. Ashrama are the four stages of life that include:Brahmacharya (thestudent life),Grahastha (the householder), Vanaprashta(the forest dweller), and Sanyasa (therenouncer). The second topic enumerated in the Dharmashastra is the 'vyavâhara'. Vyavaharaare laws and legal procedures. They include the 'rajadharma' or the duties and obligations of aking to organize court, listen and examine witnesses, decide and enforce punishment andpursue justice. The third category is called the 'prâyaschitta', which lays down rules forpunishments and penances for violating the laws of dharma. They are understood to removethe sin of committing something that is forbidden.1.5.2. Textual Hermeneutics:

Traditional hermeneutics deals with the study of interpreting written texts in the areasof religion, law and literature. The Dharmashastra tradition uses the textual hermeneuticsknown as 'Purva-Mimamsa' to interpret its texts. Purva-Mimamsa provides in detail theknowledge of how to interpret the Vedic texts, including the Dharmashastra text.1.5.3. Important Dharmashastra Texts:

There are literally hundreds of texts that fall under the category of the Dharmashastratexts. Dharmasutra are the first four texts of the Dharmashastra. The Sanskrit meaning ofDharma-sutra is righteousness-thread or string. The written format of the Dharmasutra is theprose style. They deal with the subject matter of dharma and are like guidebooks on dharmawith rules of conduct and rites. Dharmasutra discuss the rules for duties for all the ashrama: thestudent-hood, the householdership, the retirement or forest dwelling, and renunciation. Also,they provide the rites and duties of kings and court proceedings. Other issues that areDharmasutras cover include rules about one's diet, crimes and punishments, daily sacrifices,and funeral practices. The most important Dharmasutra texts are the sutra of Apastamba,Gautama, Baudhayana and Vaisistha, and they come from various geographical locations inIndia and are composed at different times between 600 and 100 BC approximately. Some ofthe most prominent Dharmashastra texts are Manusmriti (200BC-200CE); YajnavalkyaSmriti(200-500CE); Naradasmriti (100BC- 400CE); Visnusmriti (700- 1000CE); Brhaspatismriti(200-400CE); and Katyayanasmriti (300-600CE). These texts were often used for legal



judgments and opinion. It is not clear if single or multiple authors wrote these texts. Theydiffer in format and structure from the Dharmasutra and are written in the verse form.

The four upayas or approaches, expedients, devices, ways of realising the aim or objectof diplomacy have existed since the period of epics and the Dharmasastra. The upayas aresama- dama- bheda- danda: conciliation, gifts, rupture and force. Means of overcomingopposition are based on the overlapping of the four upayas and six gunas

The first form of the 'State' in India can be traced back to the times of Manu (originalname Satyavrata) the first King and progenitor of mankind according to Hinduism. Peoplewere fed up with anarchy as there was no neutral judge/arbitrator in between to solve issues ofsociety, and so they appointed Manu as King and paid service fees as taxes for looking afterthem and ensuring mutual benefit and justice to everyone in society owing to his wisdom andphilosophical attitude and the King was divine and regarded as descended from God.

As per the Ramayana and Mahabharata/Later Vedic times it goes to portray the role ofthe King as the whole and sole of administration being helped by his principal officers whowere the Purohit and Senani where the Purohit (Priest) wielded much more authority than thekshatriya (Warrior clan) kings. Other figures of administration were Treasurer, Steward, Spiesand Messengers, Charioteer, Superintendent of Dices. This is also mentioned in the ManuSmriti and SukraNiti. No legal institutions were there and the custom of the country prevailedas the law and capital punishment was not practiced but trials took place where justice wasdelivered by the King in consultancy with the Priest and Elders at times. By the time Kautilyawrote the ArthaShastra the Indian Administrative system was well developed and the treatiseof Kautilya gives a very first detailed account of the same.1.5. Kautilya and State Craft

The KauṭilīyaArthaśāstra – written at the turn of the 4th to the 3rd century BC – is aclassical work of political theory and International Relation theory. The Arthaśāstra is atheoretical and normative work which features six pivotal idea clusters: 1) state power, 2)raison d'état, 3) correlation of forces between competing states based on 4) the saptāṅga theoryof the seven “state factors” (prakr̥ti). The correlation of forces predetermines which of sixalternative foreign policy options – the 5) ṣāḍguṇya theory – will be selected. The backgroundof Kauṭilya's 'realist' statecraft is 6) matsya-nyāya theory – a political anthropology whichfeatures anarchy, conflicts of interest and power struggle. Kauṭilya's idea of political realismanticipates much of the modern notion which is associated not only with Machiavelli andHobbes, but particularly with Hans J. Morgenthau and also with Max Weber, HelmuthPlessnerand Friedrich Meinecke.

The Arthasastra consists of 15Books in Sanskrit sutras.The 15 books could be classified under:1. Concerning the discipline of economics and statecraft.2. Duties of government Superintendent.3. Concerning the Law4. Removal of thorns5. Conduct of courtiers.6. Sources of sovereign State.



7. End of six fold policy8. Concerning vices of the king and calamities that may arise as a consequence9. Work of an invader10. Relating to a war11. Conduct of a corporation12. Concerning a powerful enemy13. Strategic way of capturing a fort14. Secret means like occult practices and remedies to keep of enemies or traitors15. Plan of the treatise and thirty two methods of treating a subjectThe book is an abstract, theoretical and ideally suited for scenario planning or

contingency planning of foreign policy issues. By studying the text in the context of the historyof that time and given the unchanging nature of statecraft, it can be related to contemporaryinternational politics. The first concept that needs to be understood is that of the vijigisu(would be conqueror). The defence of a state is the responsibility of the ruler. Kangle clearlyexplains that the problem of the defence of a state is intimately bound up its foreign relations.The state needs to be defended against foreign states. Foreign relations in the text are mainlydiscussed from the standpoint of thevijigisu. In other words, it seeks to show how a state,desirous of extending its influence and expanding its territory, should conduct its relations withforeign states.

Kautilya’s greatest contribution was to conceptualise the state as a set of functions.These functions required not merely a definition of the government but a much fullerexplanation of what constituted the state. This is first expressed in the Kautilya Arthasastra.The seven constituent elements or prakrits are: svamin (king or ruler), amatya (body ofministers and structure of administration), janapada/rastra (territory being agriculturally fertilewith mines, forest and pastures, water resources and communication system for trade),durga/pura (fort),kosa(treasury), danda/bala(army) and mitra(ally).

With regard to foreign policy Kautilya had a metanarrative of ‘the aught to be ‘stages inforeign relations. The formula of sadgunya, which sums up foreign policy, consists of sixgunas or policies: (1) samdhi, making a treaty containing conditions or terms, that is, thepolicy of peace; (2) vigraha, the policy of hostility; (3) asana, the policy of remaining quiet(and not planning to march on an expedition); (4) yana, marching on an expedition;(5) samsraya, seeking shelter with another king or in a fort; and (6) dvaidhibhava, the doublepolicy of samdhi with one king and vigraha with another at the same time.14 The general ruleis that when one is weaker than the enemy, samdhi is the policy to be followed; if stronger thanhim, then vigraha. If both are equal in power, asana is the right policy, but if one is verystrong, yana should be resorted to. When one is very weak, samsraya is necessary, whiledvaidhibhava is the double policy of samdhi with one king and vigraha with another at thesame time. These concepts continue to feature in popular literature and stories such as those inthe Panchtantra. In Book Three on the war between the crows and owls, the six options ofsadgunya (peace, war, change of base, entrenchment, alliance and duplicity) are demonstrated.

The formula of sadgunyaor the six concepts of foreign policy is associated with, thoughit does not necessarily presuppose, the theory of rajmandala or circle of kings. This mandala is



said to consist of 12 kings or states. The 12 kings are: (1)vijigisu (the would be conqueror);(2) ari(the enemy); (3) mitra (the vijigisu’s ally); (4) arimitra (ally of enemy);(5) mitramitra(friend of ally); (6) arimitramitra (ally of enemy’s friend); (7) parsnigraha(enemy in the rear of the vijigisu); (8) akranda (vijigisu’s ally in the rear);(9) parsnigrahasara(ally of parsnigraha); (10) akrandasara (ally of akranda); (11)madhyama(middle king bordering both vijigisu and the ari); and (12) udasina (lying outside,indifferent/neutral, more powerful than vijugisu, ariand madhyami).

The neighbouring princes, samantas, may normally be supposed to be hostile. But it ispossible that some may have a friendly feeling towards the vijigisu, while others mayeven be subservient to him. Neighbouring states thus fall in three categories, aribhavin,mitrabhavin and bhrytyabhavin(Kautilya)Conquest is of three types: dharmavijay (the righteous conqueror), lobbhavijay(the

greedy conqueror) and asuravijay (the demoniacal conqueror). Yuddha or war is also of threekinds: prakash-yuddha, ‘open fight’ at a place and time indicated; kuta-yuddha, ‘concealedwarfare’ involving use of tactics in battlefield; and tusnim-yuddha, ‘silent fighting’ implyingthe use of secret agents for enticing enemy officers or killing them.23 It is stated that when thevijigisu is superior in strength, and the season and terrain are favourable, he should resort toopen warfare. If the vijigisu not superior to the enemy, and the terrain and season areunfavourable, kuta-yuddha is recommended. Examples are attacking when the enemy isvulnerable, feigning retreat and drawing him into battle, or night attack.

The empire was divided in to a Home Province capital territory or administrative unitunder direct control of the central government and four to five outlying provinces (States),each under a Governor or viceroy responsible to the central government. The provincespossessed a good amount of autonomy in this feudal-federal type of organisation. Provinceswere further divided into districts, districts into rural and urban centres with a whole lot ofofficials in charge at various levels. Departments to carry out execution of policy were createdin all of these divisions with specialists dominating in the Mauryan era. Elites were preferredin job recruitment and the procedure for appointing is the same as it is practiced today. Acentralised data bank of all government transactions and records were maintained in anorganisation of the centre just like the cabinet secretariat and this performed audit andinspection functions of the three tiers of government that is local, state and central.

This set up is very much similar to our present times where Union Territories andNational Capital Territory are administrative units under Central rule where representative ofthe centre in the form of administrators or Lieutenant Governor appointed by the President rulethe affairs under the direct supervision of the President and Central government. The states areunder a governor (viceroy in olden times) appointed by and reporting to the President(King inolden times). The President is advised by his minister(s) and the sovereign power lies in thecountry's people. Also, the federal setup of powers given to states under the state list, and thedistrict administration organisation and hierarchy. Civil servants were recruited to perform theduties of policy implementation. King was the head and his functions were military, judicial,legislative and executive, similar to modern state's functions of the President, he was to be wellequipped in all areas of study especially economics, philosophy, statecraft and the three Vedas.



kautilya stated that whatever pleases the king only is to be avoided and only that which pleasesthe people is what needs to be followed. Kautilya stated that the king was like the Father andall the people or subjects of the country or empire were his children. This show how he takecare of them. This attitude of kautilya conceptualized as welfare state in modern times.

Corruption was not tolerated at all and dealt with severely where the illearned moneywas confiscated. Kautilya had his own criteria for selection of officers for the same. Once basicqualifications were met he tested them on their attitude to piety, lucre or revenue, lust, fear.Those who completed this criteria of piety were appointed as judges or magistrates and thosewho crossed the test of revenue became revenue collectors, and those pass the test of lust areappointed to the king's harem. The candidates passing the test of fear are appointed as king'sbodyguards and personal staff. And those who pass all the tests are appointed as councillors.There were two courts according to the Arthashastra called the Dharmasthya (civil cases court)where the matters are disposed off on basis of dharma, procedural law, conventions, royaldecree; and Kantakashodhana (criminal cases court) where accused is convicted on basis oftestimony and eye witness of spies, etc. Similar to today's times where there are separate courtshaving the subject matter jurisdiction of civil or criminal issues. Agriculture was the mainstayand taxes on the goods produced as well as its imports and exports were the source of revenueand the expenditure focused on public administration, national defense, army, salaries of govt.officials. Agriculture plays an important role even today in our country. Therefore, as one cansee Kautilya'sarthashastra deals with a proper strategy and system of centralised autocracy witha welfare objective in mind before performing any function by the king and his minister.Weaknesses of the KautilyanState:

i) Over charged with supervision - too much of checks and balances.ii) Prominence on individuals instead of institutions.iii) Fundamental mistrust of officials.

The Guptas carried forward the Mauryan legacy of administration in many respects.1.5.1. Kautilya Administration and Modern Personnel Administration and Public

Administration1) Personnel Administration :

A system of recruitment was there and job description as well. Salaries were clearlyspelled out of ministers and government officials. It also stated a view of job permanency andincrement in salary or position (promotion) if the official concerned provided extraordinaryservice. Personnel were to be transferred from time to time as per Kautilya because it wouldavoid corruption and misappropriation of government funds. Removal and tenure of officialsand ministers were at the pleasure of the King just like the Governor and Attorney General,etc. hold office at a term that specifies ' pleasure of the President'.2) Public Administration :

The King is the sole source of authority and appoints and dismisses personnel anddivides the work of govt. into different ministries under several ministers and officials.Kautilya stresses on the need for specialist and generalist personnel at different levels ofadministration with full accountability to the King, thus talks about division of labour andcoordination between them for efficient administration. As discussed above there was a clear



system of recruitment, pay and terms and conditions of service very much resembling themodern State. Modern state is more concerned about development whereas the Kautilyanmodel talks about collecting revenue and employing activities to help in expediting andensuring revenue, so it talksmainlyof control instead of development. It talks about local self-government that very much resembles a precursor to the Modern State local self-governmentmodel.

Kautilya'sArthashastra is more about political science that is how to conduct Stateaffairs rather than focusing on the philosophy that underlies it. He is very practical in hisapproach with a strict focus on amorality so that the King's rule and administration are neutralwithout offending anyone, and also on rationality and an organized as well as efficient way ofrunning a system with a great deal of focus on accountability and honesty and vigilance.1.6.Mughal Administration:

The Mughal administration was the most organised and long lasting and has evencarried on to the modern times. The reason for this stability was the long lasting more than 3centuries rule of the Mughal sultanat. Akbar was the architect of this system since hisgrandfather and father Babur and Humayun respectively had their hands full with battles andsocio-economic uncertainties leaving little time for administrative activities.

A very detailed, reliable and brilliant account of Akbar's empire, society andadministration is given in the famous detailed document/text by AbulFazl titled Ain-i-Akbari(Constitution of Akbar), lot of earlier tradition of administration were adopted by Mughals.The Mughal administration did carry forward a lot of the earlier traditions in political andadministrative matters already existing in India as mentioned above but they upheld greatercentralization and a rigid structure without paying much interest to social services of healthand welfare as also morals as compared to the Mauryan rulers. Theirs was an Islamic state andright from the principles of government, church policy, taxation rules, departmentalarrangements to the titles of officials all was imported wholesale from the Person-Arabcrescent of khalifs of Iran and Egypt. However, even though the recruitment was mainly basedon caste and kin they also did recognize merit and talent and did open up the civil services forHindu people. It's source of revenue was taxation on land and agriculture and was highlyurbanized. In the lower levels like of politics, village and lower levels of officials the Indianusage and customary practices were allowed whereas at the court or darbar and in higherofficial circles the foreign imported model of policy prevailed The sovereign was the king whowas paternalistic and he had supreme authority over everything. He did have a number ofministers to help, advice and assist him in the discharge of his functions, out of which the moreimportant were four- the Diwan who was in charge of revenue and finance, the Mir Bakshi atthe head of the military department, the Mir Saman in charge of factories and stores, and theSadr-us-Sudur who was the head of the ecclesiastical and judicial department.

Administration was based on coercion in the name of the King by the officials. Themain functions of the officials were to maintain law and order, safeguard the King's interestsfrom internal uprising and revolts, defend and extend boundaries of the empire and collectrevenue and taxes. Every officer of State held a mansab (official appointment of rank andprofit and expected to supply certain number of troops for State military service) thus the



bureaucracy was essentially monetary in character. The officials ranged from Commanders of10 to 10000 and were classified into 33 grades. Each grade carried a certain rate of pay, fromwhich its holder was to provide a quota of horses, elephants, etc and the State service wasneither hereditary nor was it specialized Grading system is practiced even today in recruitmentmatters.

The pay was received in form of either cash or jagir for a temporary period from whichhe could collect revenue equivalent to his salary. Thus, the jagirs though having no hold overthe land extracted revenue at their whims and fancies from the land. The Army of the Mughalempire must be understood in terms of the Mansabdari system. And apart from that there werethe knights who were called the gentleman troopers and owed exclusive allegiance to the King.The cavalry was the most important unit, the infantry was made up of townsmen and peasantsand the artillery with guns and the Navy. The corruption within the army where the soldiersplayed more allegiance to the immediate boss rather than the king proved to be its undoing andthus could be easily overpowered by the Marathas during the time of Jahangir.

The Policing system of the Mughals was entrusted to village headman's andsubordinates in villages and to Kotwals in cities and towns. And at the district level thefaujdars took over. It was a precursor to modern policing system of India. The administrationat the Centre was personal and paternal and operated with a fair degree of efficiency as long asthe King kept an eye and controlled effectively. The two highest officials were the Vakil andthe Wazir of which the former was higher in position and functioned as the regent of the Stateand maintained over all charge of the same.

The Wazir was the head of the revenue department and was known as Wazir when heacted as a Prime Minister. Chief Diwan supervised revenue collection and expenditure and wasthe head of the Government's administrative wing supervising work of all high officials. Allprovincial diwans and their subordinates reported to him and he signed and authorised allgovernment transactions. A Musatufi audited the income and expenditure of the governmentand the WaqiaNavis kept a record of all important farmers.

The Khan-i-Saman was the high steward of the royal expenditure and the Mir-i-Bakshiwho was the paymaster General of the empire. The Provincial or State Administration was alsoknown as Subahs (for states or provinces) and was headed by the Subedar or the Governor. Hewas appointed by the King and was given a office insignia and instrument of instructionswhich defined the powers, functions and responsibilities. As executive head he was in chargeof provincial administrative staff and ensured law and order there. He also handled local civilintelligence agencies and controlled the local zamindars and contained their political influence.

Provincial Diwan was appointed by the central Diwan and was next in the line ofimportance after the Provincial governor. He appointed Kiroris and tehsildars to extractrevenue from the ryots in time. He also exercised audit functions and had full control overpublic expenditure. He was assisted in office by the Office Superintendent, head accountant,treasurer and clerk. The provincial Bakshi performed the same function as the central bakshi.The Sadr and Qazi were two officers at provincial level who were sometimes united in thesame person but the Sadr was basically a civil judge but did not handle all civil cases and theQazi was concerned with civil suits in general and also with criminal cases.



1.6.1. District and Local Administration Under Mughal Rule :The Subah or Province was further divided into Sarkars which were of two types. One

was ruled by officers appointed by the emperor and those under the tributary rajas. Each Sarkarwas headed by Faujdar, he was the executive head who had policing and military functions andcould surpass the provincial rulers to speak directly to the imperial government. TheAmalguzar was in charge of the revenue and the other head of the Sarkar. The Kotwal did thepolicing. The qazi performed the judicial duties. The Sarkars were further divided intoparganas and the parganas further divided into Chaklas headed by officials called Chakladars.Qanungos kept the revenue records and the Bitikchi was the accountant and Potdar was thetitle of the treasurer. This was the hierarchy for a sound and efficient administration Akbarkept the land revenue at 1/3 and Todar Mal brought in reforms as in a standard system of landrevenue collection that included survey and measurement of land, classification of land basedon its fertility and fixing the rates. Justice was administered based on the Quranic Law as theMughal state was a Muslim State. Fatwas were issued when required and ordinances by theemperor. The principles of equity were followed and the Emperor's interpretations only wasallowed till the point it did not run contrary to the sacred laws.

Briefly, the principles the Public Administration throughout the Moghul period couldbe listed as: Centralisation; personalized administration; civil service; dissimilar stages ofadministration; division of work; bureaucracy having military character; revenueadministration based on well laid down principles; administration based on fear of force;administration based on regulations, traditions, and practices; and inadequate unity ofcommand (one could find gaps through illustrations like the position of provincial Diwan, whowas directly under the Imperial Diwan and not under the Governor, and the position ofFaujdars, who were though under the Governors, yet could have direct communication with theimperial government).1.7. BRITISH ADMINISTRATION: 1757-1858

Feature Characteristics of the East India Company The East India Company,recognized on 31st December 1600, was a monopoly, mercantile Company, which was grantedthrough the British crown the right to trade in the eastern parts. A trading station, with anumber of factors was described Factory. A settlement (number of factories) was under anAgent. Factor was the term applied to an agent transacting business as a substitute for anotherin mercantile affairs. Employees were graded, writers, factors and merchants. Recruitment ofofficials, their nomenclature, conditions and circumstances of service were governed throughrules and practices appropriate to commercial business. Usually, patronage was the method ofrecruitment and promotion in the services. Patronage was in the hands of the Proprietors orDirectors of the Company. In the early years of Company rules, officials were regularly movedaround, from one district to another. They had no training on the job and learnt the hard waythrough trial and error. They were ignorant of the laws, customs and languages of the localpeople. Given very low salaries, the Company‘s servants were recognized to be corrupt. Thesystem of governance was commercial in character. It was basically government throughCouncil. The Council had executive and legislative powers with the Governor or the Governor-General having the casting vote. With the acquisition of more territorial sovereignty and the



need to take prompt decisions, more power came to be concentrated in the head or Chairman ofthe Council, but the fundamental principle of communal rule and responsibility remained. Itwas also a government through Boards. But the Board of Revenue had the longest history andthe mainly distinguished record of work. Later, there was also the Railway Board. The Boardmade possible counseling, discussion, deliberation and even legislative and judicial activities.Questions of policy and principle, conduct and action were settled in the Board.

It was a government through record. When transactions were commercial, records werebrief and manageably. But political dealings made record keeping cumbersome andvoluminous. Notes, minutes, dispatches and reports became an integral part of Britishadministration. All this was in a way necessary because only through written reports andrecords could control be exercised through officials in the governmental hierarchy. With theCompany headquarters in far absent England, record keeping helped check absolutism anduncontrolled power. The East India Company mismanaged administration of acquiredterritories in India. One instance of it is through Clive‘s Double or Dual Government ofBengal, Bihar and Orissa. While the Company took over direct responsibility for defendingthese territories from outside attack, internal matters, like revenue collection was still left to theNawab and his officers who worked on behalf of the Company. This was because theCompany did not know the local customs and practices and felt comfortable leaving theexisting system of revenue collection intact. But this resulted in use of the worst type asmaximum revenue was extracted from the people. Though it was done in the name of theCompany, which got a bad name on this account, the Nawab and his men pocketed a lot andgrew rich at the cost of the Company.1.7.1. The Regulating Act of 1773

This Act deserves special mention because it was the first action on the part of theBritish Government to regulate the affairs of the Company in India. The Company, through aCharter, had only been given trading rights through the British Crown. When it acquiredterritories in India and slowly but surely converted itself into a ruling body, the Parliamentcould not accept and regularize this development.1.7.1.1. Changes Introduced through the Regulating Act in England

The Court of Proprietors of the Company was reformed. Formerly, a shareholder,holding a stock of £ 500 and over, became a member of the Court of Proprietors. TheRegulating Act raised it to the minimum to £ 1000. This made the Court of Proprietors acompact, better organized body to discharge both its duties and responsibilities. Changes werealso made in the Board of Directors. It was now to consist of 24 members elected through theCourt of Proprietors every 4 years, 6 directors retiring every year - instead of all the Directorsbeing elected every year as before. This gave the Board some stability and facilitated bettermanagement.

The Governor of Bengal was now designated as the Governor-General of Bengal andGovernors of other provinces in India were subordinate to him. The Governor- General was tobe assisted through a council of four members sent from England. Decisions were to be takenthrough majority vote and the Governor-General Warren Hastings had a casting vote. TheBritish territories in India came to be controlled from Bengal and that in turn was subject to



control from England. The Regulating Act set up the Supreme Court at Calcutta with LordChief Justice and three judges. This was the Supreme Court of Judicature, the highest court inBritish India. It had power to exercise civil, criminal, admiralty and ecclesiastical jurisdiction.It had jurisdiction over British subjects and Company‘s servants. But its relations with theexisting courts were not defined.1.7.1.2. Effects of the Regulating Act

The changes in the Company‘s organisation in England made it more effectivemanaging body at headquarters. The Act created a centralized administration in India, creationthe Bombay and Madras Governors subordinate to the Governor-General of Bengal. There wasa felt need for a uniform policy for the whole of British India, therefore, avoiding muchwasteful expenditure. The creation of the Supreme Court made for better justice to Britishsubjects. The Regulating Act brought in a system of checks and balances. It made theGovernors subordinate to the Governor-General, the Governor-General subordinate to hisCouncil and the Supreme Court effective in its control over the Governor-General in Council.The Regulating Act laid the foundation of a Central administration and instituted a system ofParliamentary control. It marked the beginning of the Company‘s transformation from atrading body to a Corporation of a new type, entirely administrative in its object andsubordinate to Parliament.1.7.2. The Amending Act of 1781

This Act amended the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court. It was deprived of its right toaction arising in the collection of revenue. Landholders, farmers or other persons linked in landrevenue work were not sheltered through the Supreme Court. In the same way, no person, justthrough virtue of being the Company‘s employee, could be subjected to the Court‘sjurisdiction. Even though the Court‘s jurisdiction extended over all the inhabitants of Calcutta,the Court had to take into account personal laws of Hindus in case of Hindus and Quranic lawin case of Muslims. The Amending Act recognized the appellate jurisdiction of the Governor-General and Council and confirmed their judicial authority to entertain all such pleas andappeals as they had done all beside as a Court of record.

The Governor-General and Council were further invested with ―power and authority,from time to time, to frame regulations for the provincial courts and councils. Their legislationunder this Act, was not to be subject to registration in the Supreme Court of Judicature, butwas required to be finally approved through the Crown.1.7.3. CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES FROM 1784-18341.7.3.1. Pitt’s India Act 1784

The shortcomings of the Regulating Act soon became manifest. To remedy thesedefects was not easy because it involved a complete separation of commercial and politicalfunctions of the Company which was viewed with disfavour in England. The urge for a changewas very strong and it could not be suppressed for long. In 1783, a bill was introduced throughDundas, but it failed. In the same year, Fox introduced two bills but these were rejected in theHouse of Lords. When William Pitt came to head the Government he was determined tointroduce a bill on India and see it through. At the first attempt, it was defeated through anarrow majority and on second attempt after Pitt‘s party was returned to power it was



introduced. Pitt‘s India Act provided for a body of six commissioners popularly recognized asthe Board of Control. It consisted of one Secretary of State, the Chancellor of the Exchequerand four Privy Councilors appointed through the king and holding office throughout his‗pleasure. Three of the six shaped a quorum and the President possessed a casting vote in caseopinion was equally divided. The Secretary of State was to preside over the meetings of theBoard, which in his absence, done was through the Chancellor of the Exchequer or a SeniorCommissioner. The Board of Control was empowered to superintend, direct and control theCompany‘s affairs in India with regard to civil, military and revenue work. The Directors ofthe Company had to deliver to the Board, copies of all correspondence with the Company. Theorders of the Board on civil and military government or revenues of India became binding onthe Directors. According to the Act, the Board could transmit, through a secret committee ofthree Directors, secret orders to India on the subject of war, peace, or diplomatic negotiationwith any of the country powers.

The Proprietors lost mainly of their powers. They could no longer revoke or modify adecision taken through the Directors with the approval of the Board of Council. The Directorsretained their control of commerce and right to patronage except in the appointment of thegovernor-general the Governors of Madras and Bombay and the Commander-in-chief of thethree Presidencies. The arrangement made through Pitt‘s India Act operated till 1858. IndianGovernment was subjected to a system of dual control in which the Company could initiateproposals subject to the revising and directing authority of the Board.

The Act reduced the number of members of the governor-general's Council to three.One of them was to be the commander-in-chief. This change enabled the Governor-General toget a majority even if he could get the support of only one. The Act clearly indicated thesubordinate character of the Governments of Bombay and Madras and made independentaction on their part, impossible. The Governor General in Council had the power and authorityto superintend, direct and control other Presidencies in all matters. The whole diplomaticrelations of the Company in India as also the finances necessary to support them wereentrusted to the Governor General in Council. The subordinate governments were directed notto disobey any of the orders of the Supreme government on the ground of competence. Theyhad to obey such orders in all cases except when they received positive orders and instructionsfrom the Directors or the Secret Committee. They also had to send true and exact copies of allsuch orders, resolutions or acts to the Governor General in Council. Pitt‘s India Act investedthe Governor General in Council with much discretionary power to deal with emergencies.Though they had to obey orders from home, they could act on their own when the situationwarranted it. Usually, in matters of war and peace, the Governor General in Council was to beguided through instructions of the Court of Directors. Hence, through Pitt‘s India Act, theControl of the Crown over the Company, of the Company over the Governor General inCouncil and of the supreme government over the subordinate Presidencies was greatlyimproved and fairly well defined.1.7.3.2. The Amending Act of 1786

The Amending Act of 1786 took care of the problem related to the Councils of theGovernor-General and Governors. The Act invested the Governor-General or Governor with



power to override the decision of his Council and act without its concurrence in extraordinarycases involving in his judgment the interests of the Company or the safety and tranquility ofBritish India. If the Governor-General or Governor had to use this extraordinary power, tooverrule the majority, both sides had to put in writing their respective positions on the issueunder dispute. If the Governor-General or Governor finally chose to act in his own way, hewas personally to bear the responsibility of the measure adopted without the concurrence of theCouncil.1.7.4. The central secretariat

In 1784, the Central Secretariat had three main branches: General, Revenue andCommercial. Judicial branch was later recognized in 1793. Flanked by 1793 and 1834, theCentral Secretariat worked through four branches. Of these, the civil section of the Generalbranch was under the immediate control of the Supreme Board which consisted of theGovernor General in Council and it was administered through Secretaries to Government inseveral departments. The Departments of Secretaries to Government Before 1756, alltransactions of business were handled through one general department with the help of aSecretary and a few Assistants. Due to pressure of business and exigencies of war, the GeneralDepartment had to be reorganized to secure efficiency and despatch. Accordingly, a plan wasdrawn up to have two Departments, that is, the Public Department which dealt with the affairsof trade, shipping, revenues, accounts and other matters of a public nature and the SecretDepartment which dealt with military plans and operations and all transactions with countrypowers. Separate records should be maintained for each. The two departments had to be jointlysupervised through a Secretary and an Assistant Secretary, with a sub-Secretary attached toeach Department. There were eight Assistants for the Public Department and seven for theSecret Department. Their specific duties were defined. The President and Council at FortWilliam accepted this plan and implemented it in 1764. In 1774, the Governor-General andCouncil took over the whole civil and military government of Bengal under the RegulatingAct. With augment in the volume of administrative work and the supervision of militaryoperations against the Marathas and Mysore, the Public and Secret Departments had aSecretary each. The post of Assistant Secretary was abolished and a sub secretary was attachedto each of the two departments. The duties of each were specified again and the SecretDepartment was removed to a separate house so that its records and papers were not ‘exposedto improper inspection’.1.7.4.1. Foreign Department

The affairs of foreign nations in India were part of the business of the SecretDepartment. These were now separated and vested in a Foreign Department, which wasrecognized in 1783 and placed under the charge of the Secretary to Government in the SecretDepartment. Military Department Matter relating to military expenditure, ranks, pensions andother claims of a military nature were previously dealt with through the Government in itsGeneral or Public Department. Warren Hastings, in 1776, suggested that military mattersspread over dissimilar departments should be brought together under a new MilitaryDepartment. This was done in 1777.



1.7.4.2.Revenue DepartmentWhen the Company acquired Diwani provinces in 1765, the collection of revenue was

left to Indian officers who acted as mediators for the British. This arrangement sustained till1769 when the Governor-General and Council appointed Supervisors in all districts to acquireknowledge of revenue possessions and report on abuses in the current system. But since theirpowers were limited and they failed in their duties, a new management was created. There wasto be a Controlling Council of Revenue at Murshidabad and another at Patna. Since theselacked co-ordination, a Controlling Committee of Revenue was set up in 1771 at Calcutta withpowers to inspect, control and direct revenue affairs.

In 1772, the Company decided to stand forth as diwan and carry out all revenueadministration through its own men. So a Committee of Route was shaped which workedbeside with the Controlling Committee of Revenue Finally in 1772, it was decided to have aRevenue Department at Calcutta in place of these several bodies. The Department had aSecretary, an Assistant Secretary, and a sub-secretary, a Persian Translator, an Accountant-General and many Assistants.

In addition to Department Secretaries to Government who acted under the direction andcontrol of the Council, there were three inferior Boards to take care of details of execution.These were:

The Committee of Revenue shaped in 1781 to take care of revenue, justice and police.The Board of Ordinance, shaped in 1775 to manage military stores.The Board of Trade shaped in 1774 for commercial transactions.In 1785, these were reconstituted as the Board of Revenue, the Military Board and the

Board of Trade. In 1786, the old Secret Department was renamed as Secret PoliticalDepartment. The Foreign Department was designated as Secret and Foreign Department. Anew Secret and Military Department was set up with Edward Rav as the Secretary of all thethree departments. The old Military Department was reconstituted in 1786 as the MilitaryDepartment of Inspection and was separate from the Secret and Military Department. Withslight changes in nomenclature like dropping the words Secret in titles of Departments andcreating a new Secret Department these sustained after 1787.

Changes in the Secretariat from 1787-1808Cornwallis reorganized the Secretariat. A Secretary-General was appointed for the

Public, Secret and Revenue Departments while each sustained to have a sub-secretary. Thisarrangement preserved the independence of each department while uniting all under theSecretary-General. Cornwallis also recognized a separate Judicial Department withproceedings kept under two separate heads, civil and criminal. Wellesley reconstituted theSecretariat and the changes he effected proved to be of a permanent nature. Through now therewere four groups of Departments. They were: The Secret, Political and Foreign Departments.The Revenue and Judicial Departments. The Public Department including Commercial branch.The Military Department. Each of these departments had a sub-secretary and all acted underthe orders of a Secretary-General who was usually nominated as Secretary to Government.Sub- secretaries became the Secretaries‘. The Chief Secretary had powers of general, controland authority, but execution of details was not his job. Individual Secretaries were fully



responsible for transaction of business in their respective Departments. There was aconsiderable augment of salaries as well. He also opened new Departments since newterritories were acquired through the Company. Wellesley, in sum, raised the status of theSecretaries to Government through raising their salaries and augmenting their responsibilitiesto contain research and planning.1.7.5. Financial and Colonial Departments

With Wellesley‘s arrangement, secretaries had come to shoulder greater responsibilityand distinguished themselves as extraordinary administrators. When Minto took charge, hechose to depend on his Secretaries and be guided through them rather than act on his ownviews and principles. Minto added two new Departments Financial and Colonial. TheFinancial business of Government was separated from the Public Department in 1810 andrecognized as a separate Financial Department. The Colonial Department was intended tomanage the affairs of Mauritius and Java which had come under the Company.

Reconstruction of Departments in 1815The organisation of the Secretariat was again revised in 1815 in conventionality with a

plan proposed through the Governor-General. This was partly in conventionality with thenecessities of the Charter Act of 1813 which had directed that separate accounts to bemaintained of the Company‘s territorial and commercial revenues. This separation had alsobeen ordered through the Court of Directors and was necessitated through the policy laid downthrough the Parliament and the home authorities. According, a new Territorial Department wascreated.; Departments under the governor-general and other civil departments

The office of the Governor-General consisted of the official establishment of hisPrivate Secretary, his Interpreter and a number of Assistants. One of the main duties of thePrivate Secretary was to administer Darbar charges which were stipends paid to the Nawab ofBengal and others. Residents were appointed in several parts of the country. A Resident wasappointed to get complete knowledge of what transpired at Courts of native rulers and uphold'British interest against those of other foreign powers. The administration of politicalresidencies, though mannered through the Secretary to Government in the Secret and PoliticalDepartments, was essentially connected up with the office of the Private Secretary to theGovernor-General. Residents soon became very powerful and had large administrative staff.The other civil Departments incorporated the Treasury which handled money, supervised thefinancial possessions of Government and control of its expenditure, the Department of Auditand Accounts, the Persian Department and the Agencies specified as the Agent for stationery,agent for Indigo and agent for despatching ships to Europe. There was also the Post Office, theMint and other establishments like that of Surgeons and Chaplains, the Clerk of the Market andthe Coroner, under the Civil Department.1.7.6. The administration of revenue

Land revenue was the mainly significant source of income for the Government andrevenue settlement was one of the mainly complicated functions of the Government. Itinvolved the consideration of a multiplicity of rights and obligations and it differed infundamental principles and details from place to place. The Company‘s servants had to gatherproper information as to the economic possessions and social traditions of the people and the



methods of revenue administration followed in the past. On the basis of facts thereforecomposed, they had to frame appropriate regulation for imposition of revenue and appropriatemachinery for its collection. The Imperial Grant of the DiwaniThe Company got the grant ofDiwani, that is, the right to collect taxes in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in 1765. But it did notassume direct charge. Expediency and policy dictated such a course of action wherein theCompany through the Resident, restricted its authority only to the superintendence of thecollection and disposal of revenues. Because the British lacked knowledge and experience ofrevenue collection and they did not want to antagonize or alienate the natives, they preferredcivil administration to continue in the hands of the Nawab or his minister. This meant thatpower was divorced from responsibility. The native officers, zamindars and others exploitedthe peasants. They were guilty of acts of oppression without any fear of punishment from theBritish Government as long, as they satisfied its revenue demands. Soon in 1769, theGovernment appointed supervisors in the districts of the diwani provinces to look into theproduce of the land, revenues, taxes, etc. In 1770, two controlling Councils of Revenue, one atMurshidabad and another at Patna were appointed. No appointment could be made through theNawab‘s men without their permission. These piecemeal measures did not go far in solving thevital troubles which related to power being divorced from responsibility. The outbreak offamines, especially the one of 1770, added to the sufferings of the common people. Though,the Supervisors did do some good work in reconstructing revenue records.

In 1771, the Directors stated that they would takeover, through the agency of theCompany‘s servants, the whole management of the revenues of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. Toprovide effect to his decision, a Committee of Route was appointed in 1772 and supervisorswere nominated as Collectors.1.7.6.1.Formation of the Board or Council of Revenue

With the collection of revenue 'given over to Collectors, the Committee of Routefavoured the discontinuance of the Controlling Committee of Revenue at Calcutta. Control hadto be exercised through the Supreme Council. In 1772, so, the Committee of Routerecommended the formation of the whole Supreme Council into a Board or Council ofRevenue. This Board first met on 13 October 1772, when the Controlling Committee ofRevenue at Calcutta also came to an end. The Committee of Route was abolished in 1773. Thestructure of Revenue administration was greatly simplified. It consisted of the Board ofRevenue at the Presidency, with Collectors in the districts, assisted in joint responsibilitythrough the native diwans.1.7.7. District Administration and the District Collector

The position of the District Officer was the foundation on which British rule in Indiarested. District administration through the mediators of the Central Government has been avital characteristic of our Governmental system since times immemorial. The Mauryan Empirewas divided into a number of provinces and each province was further divided into districts.Villages were governed through village communities. The district officer was responsible tothe Provincial Governor and ultimately to the Emperor. A similar arrangement prevailed underthe Guptas. The District sustained to be a significant area of administration even under theBritish. In 1772, Warren Hastings placed a district under a Collector who was a British. Two



years later this arrangement was abandoned and again picked up in 1781. Through 1786, thedistrict came to occupy a central place in the scheme of local administration. In 1829, somedistricts were grouped together and shaped a Division which was under a Commissioner ofRevenue and Route. This Commissioner was given powers of supervision and control over theadministration of the districts. Later, districts were sub-divided into subdivisions each under asub-divisional officer.

One school of British administration readily accepted the theory that an orientalprinciple of government was that all power and authority should be concentrated in one officerat the head of each unit. Though it was not usually accepted, given the anarchy in the 18thcentury, there seemed to be no way out but to have such an arrangement. After the district wasmade the basis of administration in 1786, the Collector performed the duties of a RevenueCollector, Judge and Magistrate. The District Officer had to assess and collect the revenue, trycivil and revenue cases and maintain law and order.

Lord Cornwallis was not happy with this arrangement for an officer who assessed therevenue, and had to hear complaints against that assessment. The temptation would be tojustify in his judicial capability what he had done as a Revenue Officer. Accordingly, in 1793,a new Regulation was adopted through the Governor General in Council through whichCollectors would not try the revenue cases any longer. In each district, there were twosignificant officers - Collectors for collection of Revenue and the Judge Magistrate to maintainpeace, supervise police work, apprehend thieves and robbers, try them as Magistrate andfunctions as the Civil Judge.

In 1831, there was a further change in the duties of District officers. Until this time,Collector composed revenue, while Judge-Magistrate was to act as the Civil Judge, maintainlaw and order, discharge other duties of general and administer lower criminal justice. Thesecivil judicial duties were now (1831) handed over to a separate Civil Judge while the rest of thefunctions of the Judge - Magistrate were entrusted to the Collector. The Collector nowdischarged all functions of the Chief Executive officer of the district including the collection ofrevenue, administration of lower criminal justice and maintenance of law and order. This wasmuch too heavy a burden for the Collector especially because he did not have a well-organizedpolice force at his command nor trained assistants to help him. Lawlessness became a rife andin 1836, Lord Auckland appointed a Committee described Bird Committee to investigate.

The Committee was of the opinion that these functions were too exacting and DistrictOfficer could not cope up with them. Since he paid more attention to revenue collection andneglected duties of general and police administration, something ought to be done. TheCommittee recommended that revenue functions should be placed in the hands, of separatefunctionaries described Collectors. This was affected and put into operation through 1845. Butthis division of labour did not improve the efficiency of police administration. Towards thesecure of 1853, changes were again effected and there was a reunion of magisterial andrevenue functions, because the separation of the offices of Collector and Magistrate had beeninjurious to the character of the administration and the interests of the people. The orientaltheory of government was clearly enunciated and the principle of unity of authority in Districtadministration advocated. In fact, there were three officers in a district, flanked by 1838 and



1859 namely the District Magistrate, District Collector and District Judge. In 1859, there was areunion of officers of Collector and District Magistrate and henceforth they were held throughone and the same officer. Later, the British' came firmly to consider that if District Magistratecould not punish the lawbreakers himself, his authority would be undermined. They upheld thecombination of criminal justice with executive administration.1.7.8. Board of revenue

British administration in its initial stages had a number of Provincial Revenue Councilsat work and above them was a Secretariat at Calcutta. These Provincial Revenue Councilscame to be replaced through a Board of Revenue which came to assume tremendousimportance both in revenue collection and general administration for almost 140 years. Thejurisdiction of the Board extended to the whole field of revenue administration includingsettlement, collection and receipt of public revenues. In 1788, Cornwallis revised theconstitution of the Board of Revenue. The Board was concerned with the deliberation,superintendence and control. The details of management of revenue were left to Collectorswho were responsible to the Board. In the exercise of its powers, the Board could summon anyofficer to explain his conduct, fine him or even suspend him with the final consent ofGovernment.

The Collectors became very significant because they supplied, in the first instance, allthe data on the basis of which the Board‘s report to Government would be prepared. Oncedecisions were taken and instructions issued, the execution of details was left to the Collectorswho with the discretionary power they wielded, became supreme in district administration.Two more reforms were affected in the Board of Revenue on the recommendations of JohnShore in 1788. They sought to effect total control of revenue administration through thecovenanted civil servants.

In 1790, a regulation was passed which empowered the Board to Act as a Court ofreview as well as appeal in all revenue cases. In the same year the Governor- General inCouncil, constituted the Board of Revenue into a Court of Wards. This was to bring under theBoard, the affairs of all such estates as belonged to females, minors, idiots, lunatics andpersons of doubtful character. From time to time, regulations were issued to guide the Board inthis activity. Subsequently, Divisional Commissioners came to be appointed. In the history ofthe Board of Revenue from 1786, one sees two main growths - one jurisdictional and the otherfunctional in character jurisdictionally, the extent of territories under its control increasedprogressively till 1807, when it sheltered Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Banaras as well as theconquered Provinces. It was followed through a procedure of decentralization which was firstmarked through the establishment of the Board of Commissioners for the ceded and conqueredProvinces.

This procedure sustained until two district Boards of Revenue came to be recognizedin 1831 with a number of Commissioners of Revenue to take care of local supervision.Functionally, the controlling and supervisory character of the Board of Revenue remainedunchanged. As for judicial powers, the Cornwallis principle (which favoured separation ofjudicial from revenue work) was reversed. This was necessitated through the exigencies ofperiodical assessment in the ceded and conquered Provinces where frequent judicial matters



came up. A third development was the tendency of the Government to reduce the number ofBoard members or to vest in a single member, the powers and authority exercised through theBoard as a whole. This was done for the sake of speedy conduct of business, economy, and thewant of trained men.1.7.9. Role of divisional commissioners

The territorial jurisdiction of the Board of Revenue was unmanageable. So in 1822,separate Boards of Revenue were reconstituted. These were the Board of Revenue for theLower Provinces or the Sadar Board, Board of Revenue for the Central Provinces or theWestern Board. Despite this arrangement, each Board found that it was unable to manage theterritory under its jurisdiction. Conduct of business was slow and corruption was on theincrease. The major problem was that of aloofness flanked by the Board of Revenue at thePresidency and the Collectors in the districts. The need was felt for effective local supervision,especially in the ceded and conquered Provinces. Holt Mackenzie felt the solution lay inappointing local commissioners. William Butterworth Bailey improved on this arrangementthrough suggesting that these Commissioners of Revenue be given the duties and powersexercised through the Courts of Route and Superintendents of Police. Accordingly, a new planwas adopted on 1st January 1829. Under this new regulation, all British owned land was to bedivided into 20 divisions excluding the territory of Delhi which was under a separateCommissioner and stood on a slightly dissimilar footing. The Governor General in Councilcould transfer any district from one division to another and augment or reduce the number ofCommissioners according to administrative needs. The Divisional Commissioners were toexercise the duties, powers and authority vested in the Boards of Revenue and Courts ofWards. In the exercise of their powers they were subject to the control and direction of a Sadaror Head Board of Revenue stationed at the Presidency and guided through the orders ofGovernment.1.7.10. Reforms in British administration: 1858 to 1919

The Act of 1858 ended the Company rule and the system of Double Governmentthrough Board of Control in England and the Court of Directors of the company introducedthrough the Pitt‘s India Act, 1784. Indian Administration came directly under the Crown. TheAct created the office of the Secretary of State who was a cabinet minister in the Britishcabinet. His salary and establishment was paid from the Indian revenue. He was assistedthrough a council of fifteen members to create him familiar with Indian affairs. With the end ofthe East India Company, British Parliament lost much interest in Indian affairs and theSecretary of State for India became the defacto government of India. He had overriding powersover, the Council in deliberations, appointments and the supremacy of Home government overthe Government of India as firmly recognized.1.7.11. The national movement and administrative reforms

While the British recognized a regular system of government in India from 1857 to1947, the slow pace of constitutional experiments showed uneasy compromises, the BritishStatesmen were creation with the exigencies in the Indian situation. The policy of apparentassociation, so, went had in hand with the policy of oppression, and constitutional advanceswere always barbed with restrictive circumstances so that the core of executive bureaucratic



responsibility would remain untouched. Such contradictions seem to be inevitable withimperialism because imperialism itself is incompatible with democratic theory and practices.The contradictions were clearly exposed in Lord Lytton‘s repressive policy, the Arms Act, theVernacular Press Act, holding of Imperial Darbar throughout severe famine, abolition of cottonimport duty to serve British textile interest... The Ilbert Bill controversy (1883) also was an eyeopener to Indians. The Bill was to empower Indian magistrates to try criminal cases of whitepeople which were objected through the whites. Equally eye opening were the attempts to keepIndiarts out of higher jobs, especially the Indian Civil Service. All these clearly indicated theimperialist belief in white man‘s supremacy.

The Indian National movement organized itself in the Indian National Congress (1885).Initially influenced through the Western educated upper middle class, it aimed at securingreforms through peaceful and constitutional means. The British rulers also felt that this wouldremove misunderstanding about the intentions of the government and would save the empire.The moderates had faith in the British sense of justice and fair play. Their aim was gradualreforms with constitutional means. The Congress programme tossed flanked by extremists andliberals till it became a mass movement, in the real sense and demanded nothing short of PumaSwaraj‘.1.7.11.1. The Morley-Minto reforms 1909

The Indian Councils Act (1909) considerably increased the strength of legislativecouncils - the Imperial and provincial. For the Imperial, the Supreme Council, the number ofadditional members was raised from 16 to 60. For major provincial councils, the number wasraised to 50 and for minor provinces it was fixed to 30. The additional members were bothnominated and elected. The principle of election was functional representation. In the SupremeLegislative Council, the official majority was maintained through in the provincial councils,the non-officials shaped the majority. The Act definitely expanded the functions of thelegislative councils. These concerned discussions on the budget (The Annual Financialstatement), discussion on any matter of general public interest and thirdly the power of askingquestions. The Act also increased the number of Executive Councilors in the three majorPresidencies - Bombay, Madras and Bengal. Indians were now appointed as members of theSecretary of States‘ Council (1907) and members of the Governor-Generals‘ Council (1909).Some other significant characteristics of the Act of 1909 incorporated: right of separateelectorate to the Muslims; the Secretary of the state for India was empowered to augment thenumber of the Executive Councils of Madras and Bombay from two to four; two Indians werenominated to the Council of the Secretary of state for Indian affairs; and empoweringGovernor-General to nominate one Indian Member to his Executive Council, etc.

Constitutional reforms were reflected in the changing structure of the governmentalmachinery as the government moved towards the federal form. Creation of new departments,their reorganization and setting procedures for smooth conduct of department businessnaturally became inevitable.

Departmental organisation not only creates administration smooth but also streamlinesits processes and secures economy in its operation. In the beginning, administration wasgrouped under two broad segments one covering General, Foreign and Finance and the second



covering Secret, Revenue and Judicial departments. In 1843, administration was divided intofour departments, Military, Foreign, Home and Finance. The Home department dealt withlegislation also. In 1855, a separate department of Public Works was recognized with thedevelopment of irrigation and railways. In the course of time three main departments wererecognized. The Legislative Department (1869) took over the legislative work of the HomeDepartment. Obviously, it did not initiate or originate legislation. The second department wasAgriculture, Revenue and Commerce created in 1871 mainly to work as a guiding agency inthe context of recurring famines. The third department was Industries and Commercerecognized in 1905. The Railway Board also was constituted in the same year. It was to lookafter the Industrial and commercial development of the country. Due to the controversyflanked by Curzon and Kitchner over the military administration in India, the Militarydepartment Was divided into two separate departments, the Army Department and the MilitarySupply Department. In 1911, Education department was created. The creation of departmentsreflects the rising- volume of work attended through them.

It is throughout this period that the concept of departmental responsibility grew: LordDalhousie assigned each member of the Council some specific departments and introduced theclassification of papers as urgent, routine, unimportant and significant. Only urgent paperswould go directly to the Governor-General. Finally, in 1862 the portfolio system came intooperation. The sharing of work was made specific and the system of noting was introduced. In1882 the flat file system was adopted. Lord Curzon improved upon this system to reduce delayto minimize official pedantry; the emphasis was on discouraging excessive noting andencouraging personal communication.

Before the Charter Act of 1833, the Court of Directors of the East India Companycontrolled the selection and appointment of Civil Servants. The nominations were madeindividually through the Directors. Young Englishmen took writer ship as a career and theyentered into a covenant to serve the company faithfully and honestly. They were, so, describedas ‗Covenanted Servants‘. The uncovenanted personnel were not a part of regular gradedservice. Also the security of service was limited. The distinction flanked by the two was,though, getting blurred over a period. With the Act of 1833, the disciplinary control of theGovernment of India was recognized over civil servants. The significant issues in thedevelopment of civil service were the age of recruitment, division of service flanked byexecutive and judicial branches and the need and entry of Indians into these services. LordSalisbury in 1874 reduced the upper age limit to nineteen and the lower to seventeen. Thisaffected Indian candidates. Though the division of service into administrative and judicialbranches was not favoured, Sir Campbell devised the system of Parallel lines of Promotion anda covenanted servant would choose after some years of service one or the other line. As thenumber of covenanted servants was restricted, the need for expanding uncovenanted servicesto fill in subordinate services was felt. This became obvious with provincial services andgrowth in governmental work.

A centralized financial system was introduced in 1833 as the earlier structure was toodiffused for effective control and economy. Lord Ellenborough created the post of a FinanceSecretary at the Central stage and brought all financial operations under the review of the



Government of India. It realized effective control and economy but ended in delay in finalapproval. Ellenborough really wanted to have a Finance Member on his council. For Centralcontrol the office of the Comptroller General of Accounts was created and he remained incharge of appropriation audit. In 1860, the system of budget was introduced. Financialrelations were decentralized for the first time in 1870 when Lord Mayo made provincialgovernment responsible for the management of local finance in some areas which wereprimarily of provincial interest. This relieved the Imperial Finance too because provincialgovernments were expected to raise additional revenue through raising local taxes. Obviouslyprovincial budgets were required to be submitted to the Government of India for approval.

Local government institutions are both natural and useful. Village communitygovernment existed in India with a village headman performing both civil and judicialfunctions. But the present system of local government is entirely a British creation. Theprinciple of election and the concept of representativeness were foreign to the old localgovernment system. The Mayo resolution of 1870 stressed the need for introducing selfgovernment in local areas to raise local possessions to administer locally significant servicesand also to give local interest and care in the management of their funds. Municipal Acts wereaccordingly passed in several provinces with elective local bodies coming into subsistence.The first local government, the Madras Corporation was recognized in 1687. In a course oftime, other Presidency towns also shaped local governments. Lord Ripon‘s resolution in 1882has been regarded as the landmark in the history of local government in India. The resolutiondeclared that ‗it was not primarily with a view of improvement that this measure is putforward - It is chiefly desirable as an instrument of political and popular education‘. Theresolution extended election principle with an elected non-official Chairman. Ripon wanted togive for the new educated middle class an opportunity for association and thereby check rigidbureaucracy.1.7.11.2. The Montague-Chelmsford reforms 1919

It is the declared policy of the Parliament to give for the ‘rising association of Indiansin every branch of Indian administration and for the gradual development of sell governinginstitutions with a view to the progressive realization of responsible government in BritishIndia as an integral part of the Empire’. In response to the spirit of the preamble, the Actprovided complete popular control as far as possible in local government areas. There was alsomaximum popular representation and freedom to provincial government. This is reflected inthe system of diarchy. The Government of India was still to be responsible to the BritishParliament. But Indian legislative council was enlarged and made more popularlyrepresentative. In tune with the spirit of the declaration, the control of British Parliament overthe Indian Government was relaxed and that of Central Government over the provincialgovernment was reduced. The vital contention was that where the Government of India and theCentral legislature were in agreement, the Home Government would not interfere.Main characteristics of the 1919 Act incorporated:

a. The Council Of the Secretary of state to have eight to twelve members with threeIndian Members and at least one-half of them to have spent a minimum of ten years inIndia;



b. The Secretary of the state to follow the advice rendered through the Council;c. The Secretary of state was not allowed to interfere in the administrative matters of the

provinces concerning Transferred subjects‘;d. To carry out their administrative affairs, the Governors were given Instrument of

Instructions‘ as a guide; ande. Other than Muslims, the minorities including Sikhs, Anglo-Indians, Christians and

Europeans were given right of separate electorate; etc.1.7.11.3. The Central Government

The Central Government was more representative and responsive but not responsible.The Governor General at the apex of administration was still an autocrat, He had the powers ofsuperintendence, direction and control over the whole administration and these were veryeffective powers. In theory, the Government of India was ruled through the Government ofEngland and the Governor General who differed from the policy of the Secretary of State hadno alternative but to resign. But in actual practice, the Governor General as the man on the spotaccepted a great deal of power and influence. He could overrule the decisions of his ExecutiveCouncil. He was the executive‘. The executive councilors were virtually his nominees, fie hadfull control over foreign and political department (department dealing with princely States inIndia). Every bill passed through the Central or Provincial Legislature needed his assent, insure cases his prior ascent. He could put any bill on the statute, also restore cuts. He has usedhis powers to override the legislature.

The Legislature was broad based (the strength of the Council of States 60, and theCentral Legislative Assembly 140). But its composition was faulty and powers very muchrestricted. The Communal representation introduced in the 1909 Act for Muslims was nowextended to other communities like the Sikhs, the European therefore encouraging separatisttendencies in the Indian people. The Governor General therefore had too several powers andwas not responsible to the Legislature.

Machinery of Diarchy at the Provinces The division of subjects into Central andProvincial (Federalism) and the further division at the provincial stage flanked by Reservedand Transferred subjects was a novel characteristic of the Mont-Ford Reforms. Diarchy meansdouble government at the provinces. The Reserved ‘subjects in charge of councillors,nominated’ through the Governor and transferred subjects in charge of councillors - Ministersappointed through him. The reserved subjects were really key departments while transferredsubjects were felt safe even if placed in the Indian hands. The councillor in charge of reservedsubject was not responsible to the Secretary of State and the British Parliament. The ministersin charge of transferred subjects were responsible to the provincial legislature. The Governorexercised effective powers over the whole administration through the Instrument of Instructionand Executive Business Rules.1.7.12. Administrative System under 1935 ActMain Characteristics

The White Paper and the Joint Select Committee report shaping the Government ofIndia Act 1935 dropped and altered several suggestions of the Simon Commission and therecommendations of the Round Table conferences. This confirms that ‗British nation has no



intention whatsoever of relinquishing effective control of Indian life and progress‘ (WinstonChurchill). The Act retained the supremacy of the British Parliament and also the Preamble ofthe Act of 1919. It meant ‗gradual realization of self governinginstitutions‘ as the goal andthere was no mention of Dominion status and the inclusion of provisions to attain it. All rightsof amending, altering or repealing the provisions were kept with the British Parliament. TheAct removed dyarchy of the provincial stage but introduced it at the Central stage. It alsointroduced safeguards operated in the interest of the British. For the first time, the wide rangeof subjects were classified in the three list system and assigned to appropriate stage ofgovernment. This was a novel experiment.

Looking at the provisions of the Government of India Act 1935 it appears that the JointSelect Committee moved absent from some of the recommendations of the Round TableConferences and the White Paper, for instance, introduction of indirect system of election forthe Federal Council or the restrictions on the powers of the Federal court to preserve thesupremacy of the Privy Council. The nature of safeguards, residuary powers with the GovernorGeneral, composition of the Federal legislature create it clear that the Act provided a Federalform, but lacked Federal spirit.

All India Federation The Act proposed a federation of British provinces and PrincelyStates in India. The Princely States had an option to join the Federation and the nature ofrelationship would differ from state to state according to the Instrument of Accession. But theInstrument of Accession once extended would be irrevocable.

The Act provided a bicameral legislature - the Lower House elected directly and theUpper House with a composite representation to princely states and affluent classes. The Actalso gave more powers to the Upper House (The Council of States) - that of voting grants andcreation ministers responsible to the Council too. The subjects allotted to the FederalProvincial governments were detailed in the Three list system. Muslim representatives wantedthe United States of America model with strong provincial governments.

The Liberals favoured the Canadian model with strong Centre through keeping with itthe residuary powers. At the Round Tables, Lord Sankey, the Chairman of the FederalStructure Committee, so, suggested the model of three list system detailing powers of both theCentre and the provincial governments and doing it exhaustively so as to leave very littlepowers in the residuary area. The subjects of common interest for the whole country and whichdemanded a uniform treatment Were sheltered through the Federal list. These incorporated 59items. Subjects primarily of provincial interests and where no uniform treatment was necessarywere put in the provincial list. This contained 54 items. A third list sheltered subjects primarilyof provincial interests where uniform action was or would be desirable. These numbered 36.Residuary powers to accommodate future needs were vested in the hands of the Governor-General.

The Act provided a Federal Court to interpret the provisions and to decide over inter-province disputes. The principle of Dyarchy, that is, dividing governmental administration intoreserved and transferred subjects and treating them differentially, was introduced at the Centre.The Act therefore proposed a Federal form of government for India and for the first time triedto bring British provinces and Indian States under one common constitution, It accepted theessential characteristics of Federation - a written constitution, division of subjects flanked by



federal and provincial governments and thirdly, a Federal Court to interpret the provisions ofthe Constitution. The Act not only pointed out the direction of our constitutional developmentbut also greatly influenced our constitution creation in independent India.

Legislature and Executive at the ProvincesThe 1935 Act discontinued the application of dyarchy introduced at the provincial stage

under the Act of 1919 as the experiment failed miserably. The distinction flanked bytransferred and reserved subjects was removed and the whole administration was entrustedwith the ministers responsible to the legislature. The provinces were given a separate legalstatus, specified subjects to operate according to the three-list system and provided a federalrelationship with the Centre. But the All India Federation did not materialize and the powersgiven to the provinces became delegated authority under the devolution rules of the 1919 Act.Significantly, the Joint Parliamentary Committee report stated that each province' will possessexecutive mechanism and legislature. It meant duality of power in ministers and the Governorat the provincial stage.

General show that the legal meaning to these phrases had significance in practice. TheGovernor-General was the final authority in case of disagreement flanked by the Centre andprovinces over the concurrent list. Several Bills in the provincial legislature needed priorapproval of the Governor-General. The executive authority of the provincial government wasrestricted. The Governor-General could provide direction, issue instructions to the Governorconcerning the manner in which executive authority could be exercised in sure matters. Also inall matters where the Governor acted in his discretion or in his individual judgment, he wasbound through the instructions of the Governor-General. On the face of it, several of theseprovisions would be formal and natural in the context of the formation of a federal state fromthe otherwise unitary administration. Restrictions of similar nature have found place in ourpresent constitution too. Centre-State relations are more political than administrative. As itwould have it, the 1935 Act put these powers in the executives who were politically notresponsible to the elected legislature. Governor‘s power of acting in his discretion and inindividual judgment to discharge his special responsibilities was very comprehensive. He hadspecial powers with regard to Police Department and Services besides the power of creationordinances. Further the powers under Governor‘s Act were more drastic than the power ofcertification given to him under the 1919 Act. Here he could bypass the legislature. Thelegislatures were broad based and elections direct. But the principle of communalrepresentation was extended to promote, new classes. Voting qualifications were minimumstage of literacy and other Monetary-qualifications like payment of income tax, etc. The voterstherefore constituted hardly 27 per cent of the adult population of British India. It was anadvance over the 1919 Act, but it was too short of adult franchise which would createdemocracy broad based. The legislative and financial powers too were restricted because of theordinary and extraordinary powers of the Governor.1.7.12.1. The administrative structureOrganisation of Departments

In the reorganization of departments, natural grouping of subjects and administrativebranches was the main consideration. The workload of the department also was a factor inreorganization. The whole administration was organized into eleven departments. Council of



Agricultural Research was recognized in 1929. In 1937, the Foreign and Political Departmentwas divided into two departments. Likewise, Department of Industries and Labour wasbifurcated into two separate departments. In 1942, there was reorganization in FoodDepartment and also three separate Departments of Education, Health and Agriculture wererecognized. Though, departmental reshuffling was not always rational but influenced througheconomy thoughts and the exigencies of war. In 1947, there were nineteen departments, Home,External Affairs and Commonwealth relations, Finance, Transport, Railways, Education,Health, Agriculture, Food, Industries and Supplies, Political (States), Legislative Works,Mining and Power, Labour and Information, and Broadcasting.

Procedural changes aimed at reducing delay in administrative procedure. The MaxellCommittee (1937) looked into the Minister-Secretary relationship in the context ofadministrative stability. Gorawala Committee (1951) looked into the question of administrativeintegrity while Appleby Committee (1953) focused on training needs of officials especially themiddle stage officials and the need to establish Organisation and Method Department forcontinuous appraisal of administration structures and processes.The Public Service

The 1935 Act classified services as superior and other services. The Indian CivilService, Indian Police and Indian Medical (Civil) Services were classified as superior servicesand controlled through the Secretary of State. These sustained to enjoy special rights andprivlleges (No adverse order against a member of the superior service could be passed withoutconcurrence of the Governor. They had right to appeal to the Secretary of State against anadverse order.) The 1919 Act had recommended for the establishment of the Federal PublicService Commission and through it, Idealization of Services was realized. The profile ofservice that developed was that of a generalist associated with the formulation of policies andtheir implementation.Administration of Finance

The financial arrangements under the Government of India Act 1935 were based on therecommendations of the Niemeyer Committee. Revenue sources followed the list system. Assuch receipts from provincial subjects shaped the main income source for provinces. Provinceswere given some additional sources of revenue too; for instance, share in succession duty otherthan landed property, share in income tax, grant in aid, etc. The provinces were also givenpower to raise loans on the security of their possessions. The Centre to secure financialstability for itself could for a period retain such sums as might be prescribed in the form of afixed percentage of income tax assigned to the provinces. The Auditor General of Indiaoccupied a key position in financial administration. He controlled the accounts both of theCentre as well as the provinces. The Reserve Bank of India was recognized in April 1935.Financial control over expenditure was exercised through the Public Accounts Committee ofthe legislature. The centralized machinery of finance has been a characteristic of the Indiansystem since the Charter Act of 1833. The position of the office of the Comptroller andAuditor General in India, a statutory office in our present constitution, derives strength fromthis historic fact.



Local AdministrationLocal government being a ‘transferred subject‘ received attention since the introduction

of dyarchy under the Act of 1919. All provisions enacted in this field made local governmentsmore representative and popularly controlled. The legislation also provided for representationfor backward and depressed classes and for labour class. But as local bodies were drawn in thenationwide political surge through civil disobedience movement, they lost the priority ofattention. The traditional panchayat system had long been defunct. And the new localgovernment could not take firm roots. The fact is that local government rural or urban grew asadministrative necessity of managing local funds. Ripon‘s objective of political education waslost in executive directions that followed the Resolution. Older village panchayat system wasbased on a corporate spirit and the British tenancy legislation affected this base. The Britishadministration of Justice was also centralized. The defunct panchayats, so, became a sink oflocalism and a den of narrow mindedness (Ambedkar). The Decentralization Commission alsolooked at the problem from administrative angle. It was only with the experiment ofCommunity Development Movement and its subsequent development in Panchayati Raj thatrural government structure became meaningfully involved in the larger processes ofparticipative development.1.7.13. The Legacy of British Rule:

The Free India inherited governmental machinery, as developed through the British.More than the machinery, it received from the British rule the feeling of importance attached tothese institutions - the feeling of Raj, the importance of having a government, its necessity andaccepting its strength. The traditional respect the ‘Sarkar’ accepted was as if passed on to thenew government. The government is everywhere - One cannot escape it. There is an awarenessof it, a sense of importance and acceptance that it needs to be strong and stable. The Federalstructure of government is also a significant legacy. India is a federal state with significantunitary characteristics. The 1935 Act which influenced its structure was unitary with strongfederal characteristics.

The British administration was district-cantered. It was headed through a generalisthead with an overriding authority. The district head not merely represented government at thedistrict stage; he was in fact government at the district stage. The district was subdivided intotalukas consisting of villages and also grouped upwards into firkas. This framework stillcontinues. The All India services, especially the Indian Administrative Service and the IndianPolice Service strengthen integration. It gives an All India character to governmental personneland gives a steel frame to the administrative machinery. The structure of these services, theirbuilt and shape, their manner of functioning, inter-service and intra service relations and theethos has influenced not only governmental functioning but governmental thinking too notonly of the government but also of people at large.

Constitutional experiments were enlarging and strengthening legislatures. Beside sidelegislative institutions, legislative culture also was spreading even though the nationalenvironment was becoming uncongenial. The Indian National Congress under the leadership ofMahatma Gandhi was becoming agitational, anti-governmental and extra parliamentary. Theessence of legislative culture is discussion and dialogue flanked by dissimilar interests,



answerability of the executive and acceptance of responsibility in case of failure of its actions.This was accepted and necessary skills were developed as people took part in the working ofcouncils.

The legacy of judiciary, respect for the judicial structure, acceptance of itsindependence, and regard for its values has also taken firm root in the soil. The boycott ofcourts was not as strong as the boycott of legislature. Several of the leaders in the earlyfreedom thrash about were from law profession who respected this tradition. The debates in theconstituent assembly concerning judicial system also reflect this characteristic. Consideringseveral reforms leading to independence it looks that the thread of British legacy runs throughand reflects a degree of stability in the procedure of change in later year.Constitutional Basis of Indian Administration

The Constitution has recognized parliamentary democracy in the country. Beforeindependence the country had legislature at the Centre and in the Provinces. These did notpossess full powers and authority as under the present Constitution. Throughout the periods ofpartial legislative control, 1920-35, 1937-39 and 1946-47, the public services were to an extentaccountable to the popularly elected representatives and the ministers responsible to them. Thiswas another characteristic of administrative stability after independence.

The pre-independence era saw the administrative organisations of the Central and theState (then described Provincial‘) governments intact. This was a factor contributing to theundisturbed transfer of power from the British to the Indian hands. The administration of thecountry‘s security, law and order, finances, communication system, educational organisationand other elements of the infrastructure after 1947 sustained as before.

At independence on 15 August 1947, the following eighteen departments (re-designated as Ministries‘) functioned under the Government of India: External Affairs andCommonwealth Relations, Defence, Finance, Home, States, Legislative (Law),Commerce, Industries and Supplies, Railways, Transport, Communications, Labour,Agriculture, Food, Education, Health, Information and Broadcasting, Works, Mines andPower.

From five departments in 1858, at the transfer of the government in India from thecharge of the East India Company to the control of the British Parliament (actually handledthrough British Government), to eighteen in 1947 indicated an enormous augment in theadministrative activity. These nine decades of the British rule witnessed the beginning of theelementary social services like primary education, health and medicine, agricultural research,fiscal incentives for industries, etc. Legislative activity had commenced. The two World Warsintroduced price and physical controls over the essential supplies including food, cloth, petroland kerosene, etc., besides growth in armed services, war industries and supplies. In 1921, thenumber of departments stood at nine, which were increased to twelve in 1937. After 1919 themain administrative activities in agriculture, education, health, and labour were manneredthrough the provincial governments, due to decentralization under the 1919 and 1935Government of India Acts.

The Republic of India is governed by the Constitution of India, which was adopted bythe Constituent Assembly on November 26, 1949 and came into force on January 26, 1950.



The Constitution of India seeks to protect the fundamental, political and civil rights of thepeople. It also embodies the basic governance structure of the country. The Constitution ofIndia has some distinct and unique features as compared to other constitutions to the world. AsDr. B.R. Ambedkar, the Chairman of the Drafting Committee puts it, the framers had tried toaccumulate and accommodate the best features of other constitutions, keeping in view thepeculiar problems and needs of our country.

The constitution creates three kinds of services: all India services common to the unionand states to man certain “strategic posts” central services including the defence services andthe states services. The constitution provides under article 312 for the creation of morecommon services if the council of states passes a resolution supported by an absolute majorityand two thirds of members present and voting. In 1962 three more all India services werecreated under this article, namely, all India engineers’ service, Indian forest service and Indianmedical service, thus making their number five, but only the Indian forest service was put intofunction. The constitution of India contains specific provision relating to the creation of civilservices at both levels, i.e., the union and state, a perusal of the articles 308, 309 and 311would provide a clear insight into the position of civil service in India. Further, article 309empowers both the union and state governments to make arrangements for their respectiveservices. In fact, this kind of arrangement which exists under article 309 regarding the creationof civil services at the union and in the political system. So the question arises, what motivatedthe constitution makers to provide for such an arrangement, in this regard, they were guidedmore by the administrative, historical and sociological imperatives.

Transparency, accountability and adherence to the rule of law depends on a systemicarrangement and coherency between the three arms of the state, viz, the Executive, theLegislature and the Judiciary. The Constitution of India provides for a system of governancebased on the above-mentioned three arms within a federal framework with greater powers inthe hands of the Union Government or Government of India or the Central Government (alsoreferred to as the "Centre"), which governs the Union of India as a whole. In India, theParliament is the supreme legislative body. As per Art 79 of the Constitution of India, theCouncil of Parliament of the Union consists of the President and two Houses, which are knownas the Council of States (RajyaSabha) and the House of People (LokSabha). The President hasthe power to summon either House of the Parliament or to dissolve the LokSabha. Each Househas to meet within six months of its previous sitting. A joint sitting of two Houses can be heldin certain cases.

The post-independence administration in India was fairly stable due to the sustainedtenures of public services which were in office before independence. The Indian Civil Serviceand the Indian Police Service were the two All India Services that helped the country to holdtogether. The other All India Services incorporated the medical, engineering, forest,educational and others. The Indian Civil Services was the mainly pivotal and prized of theseservices. Its members occupied positions in the executive councils of the Governor General ofIndia and the provincial Governors. Mainly of the posts of Secretaries to the departments in theCentral and provincial governments and of heads of executive departments were held throughthem. ICS men were district collectors and magistrates/deputy commissioners. Before



independence, the officers of the ICS and other All India Services were appointed through theSecretary of State for India. After independence, under the India Independence Act, 1947, theICS and other officers in All India Services, who sustained in office, became officers in theservice of the Government of India. At independence about two hundred and fifty EuropeanICS officers retired, while about fifty of them opted to be in office here. Vallabhbhai Patel,India‘s Home Minister realized the dire need of the Indian members of the ICS continuing inservice here after 1947. He assured to honour the existing conditions and security of theirtenure. They did contribute to the stability and stability of the Indian administration.

After independence the Indian Civil Services was replaced through the IndianAdministrative Services. A larger number of the officers in the IAS and the Indian PoliceService (that replaced the Imperial Police Service) were required to replace the formerservices. They had to man the posts in the recently merged princely states. Much more thanthat, the character of these All India Services had changed after independence. India became ademocracy after independence. The services had now to serve the people of the country, andnot the imperial masters. The ICS men were not only officials; they were a part of the colonialgovernment. The officials of independent India - no more rulers - had to imbibe the democratictemper of its polity. This marked a change from the pre-1947 scene.

The All India Services Act, 1951 of the Indian Parliament provided for the formation oftwo services, the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service. This was anoutcome of the deliberations in the Constituent Assembly of India. The Constitution contains aseparate Part XIV titled ‘Services under the Union and the States. Article 312 of theConstitution relates to the All India Services.

A new All India Services, the Indian Forest Service, was constituted in July 1966,though an amendment to the All India Services Act, 1951 affected in 1963 provided for theformation of three new All India Services, viz., the Indian Services of Engineers. Thepersonnel belonging to the Central Services work in the several departments of the CentralGovernment. They are organized into four groups, A, B, C and D, on the basis of the payscales of the posts in them. The following are some of the Central Services: CentralEngineering Services, Central Health Service, Central Secretariat Service, Indian Audit andAccount Service, Indian Defence Accounts Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian PostalService, Indian Revenue Service, Central Legal Service, Central Information Service, IndianStatistical Service, Indian Economic Service. Before 1947, specialist officials worked inseveral functional departments of the Central Government, but after independence, dissimilarservices (cadres) were shaped. Statistical Service, Economic Service, Information Service andForeign Service were some of the new cadres shaped to cater to the emergent needs of theCentral Government. The Indian Foreign Service attracts intelligent young graduates besidewith the Indian Administrative Service; the entrants to it reach the highest position ofAmbassadors to foreign countries. Some of these are: Forest Service, Agricultural Service,Animal Husbandry, Prohibition and Excise, Judicial, Police, Jail, Medical, Public Health,Educational, Engineering, Accounts, Sales Tax and Industries Service. A few of these servicesdid exist before 1947, but now the strength of these has gone up. Besides, Class III and IVServices are on roll.



The new public services share, to a long extent, the attributes of political impartiality,selection on merit and integrity like in the ICS and other services before independence. Thepublic services in free India arc committed to the objectives of the Constitution. The localbodies and cooperatives have their own personnel.

The cardinal functions of the Legislature include overseeing of administration, passingof budget, ventilation of public grievances and discussing various subjects like developmentplans, international relations and national policies. The Parliament is also vested with powersto impeach the President, remove judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, the ChiefElection Commissioner, and the Comptroller and Auditor General in accordance with theprocedure laid down in the Constitution of India. All legislations require the consent of boththe Houses of Parliament. The Parliament is also vested with the power to initiate amendmentsin the Constitution of India.

The President serves as the Executive Head of the State and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. Article 74(1) of the Constitution of India provides that there shallbe a Council of Ministers, with the Prime Minister as its head to aid and advise the President.

The President appoints the Prime Minister, Cabinet Ministers, Governors of States andUnion Territories, Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, Ambassadors and otherdiplomatic representatives. The President is also authorised to issue Ordinances with the forceof the Act of Parliament, when Parliament is not in session.

The President must consult the Council of Ministers and the Prime Minister beforetaking any executive decision. It is important to note that the Council of Ministers (usuallyknown as the "Cabinet" and constituted of the members of the ruling political party/ alliance)and the Prime Minister (usually the leader of the political party/ consensus candidate of thealliance; also heads the Cabinet) are members of Parliament and, therefore, by convention, intheir hands rest the legislative and executive powers of the Centre.

The federal units, ie, the States, have their own set-up in terms of legislatures (normallyreferred to as the "State Legislature") and state administrative wings similar to that of theCentre. Here, the Governor is the head of the Executive, though the real power rests with theChief Minister and his/her Council of Ministers. There are certain territories in India that arenot States, but are known as Union Territories and these are governed directly by the Centre.

The Constitution of India prescribes the separation of legislative and administrativepowers between the Union and the States. Areas such as, defence, railways, maritime,interstate trade, airways, banking, etc, are under the jurisdiction of the Centre (Union List) andareas such as public order, police, agriculture, etc, fall under the jurisdiction of the States (Statelist). There is a third category of list also which is termed as the Concurrent List. It coversareas such as criminal law and procedure, economic and social planning, trusts, bankruptcy,etc, over which both the Centre and the States have legislative and executive powers, though incase of conflict between the two, the Centre's position prevails.

The Indian Judiciary as of today is a continuation of the British legal systemestablished by the English in the mid-19th century. Before the arrival of the Europeans inIndia, it was governed by laws based on the Arthashastra, dating from 400 BC, and theManusmriti from 100 AD. These were the influential treatises in India, texts that were



considered authoritative legal guidance, however, till today the legacy of the British system ismanifested from the fact that India falls into the genre of common law system. The procedureand substantive laws of the country, the structure and organisation of courts, etc, emanate fromthe common law system.

The Judiciary of India is an independent body and is separate from the Executive andLegislative organs of the Indian Government. The Judiciary in India provides the people of thenation the necessary "auxiliary precaution" required to ensure that the Government functions infavour of the people, for their amelioration and for the betterment of society.

The judicial system of India is divided into four basic levels. At the apex level is theSupreme Court, situated in New Delhi, which, under the scheme of the Constitution of India isthe guardian and interpreter of the Constitution of India, which is followed by High Courts atthe State level, District Courts at the district level and LokAdalats at the village and panchayatlevel. The Supreme Court and High Courts have the special constitutional responsibility ofenforcing the "Fundamental Rights" of the citizen, as enshrined in Part III of the Constitution.1.8. Role of Public Administration in India

Administration as an activity is as old as society itself. But as an area of study itoriginated, with the publication of Wilson’s essay on study of Administration in 1887.Administration is commonly divided into two types, Public and Private Administration. As anaspect of government activity it has existed since the emergence of political system(s). Whilepublic administration relates to the activities carried out by government, private administrationrefers to the management of private business enterprises. The word ‘administer’ is derivedfrom the Latin word ‘administere’, which means to care for or to look after people, to manageaffairs. Administration may be defined as “group activity which involves cooperation andcoordination for the purpose of achieving desired goals or objectives”.

The concept of developmental administration has dramatically changed the entire scopeof administration. It says about larger goals of administration and it has an altruistic orenlightened role in the developmental programmes of people. It is the people centred visionand the merit of development administration is judged from the point of fulfilment of publicpolicy rather the procedural clearance of bureaucratic administration. Public administrationadhere principles and procedures of legal or normative aspects of management. The rational ofpublic administration eschews policy goals of a democratic government and virtually quiteignorant of its due process. Traditional public administration behaves like an impersonal beingwith little attention to the broad goals of administration. The Concise Oxford Dictionarydefines 'development as gradual un-folding, fuller working out, well-grown state, stage ofadvancement, etc. Thus it refers to the growth into a higher, fuller, and mature condition. ' Thestudents of 'development administration', however, view development as the dynamic changeof a society from one state of being to another without positing a final mature condition. Inpublic administration scholars have tried to define development administration in the light ofthe spirit of these meanings of development. Thus it has been stated that "DevelopmentAdministration is the blending of all the elements and resources (human and physical) . . . intoconcerted effort to achieve agreed upon goals. It is the continuous cycle of formulating,evaluating and implementing interrelated plans, policies, programmes, projects, activities and



other measures to reach established development objectives in a scheduled timesequence"(Sakendra Prasad Singh)

Many scholars like George Gant, Ferrel Heady and others have sought to conceptualisedevelopment administration as different from traditional administration. They explain thatthese two types of administration differ from each other in terms of purpose, structure andorganisation, attitudes and behaviour, capabilities, techniques and methods. This is the implicitmeaning of the observation of John Gunnel who says, "The increasing shift of developmentscenario requires increased diversification and specialisation of knowledge and skills and highlevel of managerial ability for integrative coordination. Quicken the pace of development thereis an additional need for a new breed of administrators of superior calibre and vision with apassion for achieving results and those who can take risks and introduce innovations. There isan increasing need to have heightened sensitivity to the welfare of the poor sections and greaterresponsiveness to the political process." It follows that development administration has to havedifferent features and should be based on different requisites than the traditional or law andorder or general administration. The distinction between the traditional and developmentadministration has been presented by S.P. Verma and S.K. Sharmas follows:

Traditional Developmental

Regulatory Administration (routineoperations)

Unpredictable new tasks or problems (rapidlychanging environment)

Oriented towards economy andefficiency (emphasis on individualperformance)

Oriented towards organisational growth andeffectiveness in achievement of goals (emphasis ongroup performance and inter-group collaboration)

Task orientation and conformity to rulesand procedures (Concern for security,playing safe, comfort, status and power)

Relationship oriented with emphasis on highprogramme standards (willingness to take risks,encouraging innovation and change)

Sharp and elaborate hierarchicalstructure (strict and authoritative, climateof mistrust)

Structure shaped by requirements of goals(flexibility and continuously changing roles,mutual trust and confidence)

Centralised decision- making (pastexperience as the main guide to problemsolving)

Wide sharing decision-making. (Empiricalapproach to problem solving and use of improvedaids to decision-making)

Emphasis on maintaining status quo(resistance to organisation change)

Continuing organisational development in responseto development in response to (development of anorganisation, which is dynamic, adaptive andfuturistic)

1.9.The Union State Relations in IndiaIndian Constitution is neither purely 'federal' nor purely 'unitary'. The federal form is

clearly manifest in the constitutional distribution of powers between the union and the statesnot only in the legislative field but also in executive and administrative fields. In normal times,the constitutional scheme has to ensure autonomy of the states in regard to the spheres ofactivities earmarked for the states in the Constitution. Specific subjects have been allocated tothe exclusive fields of the centre and the states respectively and certain subjects have been



allocated to the 'concurrent field' with the stipulation that in the 'state' and 'concurrent' fields,the states should have the freedom to follow their own policies except to the extent thatParliament itself decides to legislate under the powers given to it under the Constitution.

Historically, a highly centralised colonial government had slowly been transformed intoa semi-feudal set-up. In post-Independent India, the needs of planned development, nationalintegration and maintenance of law and order resulted in a considerable degree ofcentralisation of powers in the hands of the centre. Single party rule for a long period of timehas also contributed to the increasing preponderance of the centre. Centre-state relationship inreality is a matter of interaction between the two levels of governments in course of dischargeof their duties to people. In administering subjects like education, health, agriculture, etc. thetwo levels of governments have to interact in the interest of efficient management of thesefunctions. Administrative problems assume political colour when the interactions areconditioned by considerations of power and hegemony. As the Administrative ReformsCommission commented "The problem of Centre-State relations has acquired new dimensionsand new importance in recent times due to several political parties being in power at the Centreand in the States."

India is a federal state. Article 1 of Indian constitution says that ‘India ie. Bharath shallbe a union of states. The division of power between union government and state government ismade possible by a written constitution. The union and the states derive their authority fromthe constitution which divided all powers - legislative, executive and financial as betweenthem. The result is that the states are not delegates of the union, but they are autonomouswithin their own spheres as allotted by the constitution. The Seventh Schedule (article 246) ofIndian constitution gives way for division of power between the central government and stategovernment.

The Union List contains 97 items and comprises of the subjects which are of nationalimportance and admit of uniform laws for the whole of the country. And the legislative powersto legislate these matters are solely vested in the union parliament. The integral subjects whichfalls within the ambit of Union List are: Defense, Foreign Affairs, Currency and Coinage, Warand Peace, Atomic Energy, National Resources, Railways, Post and Telegraph, Citizenship,Navigation and Shipping, Foreign Trade, Inter-State Trade and Commerce, Banking,Insurance, National Highways, Census, Election, Institutions of higher education and others.

The state list contains 66 items and speaks about the subject matters those are related tolocal or state interest hence it directly falls within the legislative competence of statelegislature. The major ones of the State List are: state court fees, prisons, local government,public order, police, public health and sanitation, hospitals and dispensaries, pilgrimageswithin India, intoxicating liquors, relief of disabled and unemployable, libraries,communications, agriculture, animal husbandry, water supply, irrigation and canals, fisheries,road passenger tax and goods tax, capitation tax and others.

The concurrent list is the most distinctive feature of Indian Constitution as it cannot befound in any other federal constitutions. Among the 47 items enumerated in the list, all can belegislated by both union parliament and the state legislature as both of them possess theconcurrent power of legislation. This particular list mostly serves as a device to loosen theexcessive rigidity of the two-fold distribution. It is mostly reckoned as the twilight zone of the



constitution as it allows the legislative power to vary from state legislature to parliament basedon the importance of the matters. Like in case of not so important matters, state legislaturetakes the charge and in case of important ones, Parliament does the same. Also in terms ofamplification of laws passed by union parliament state legislatures do have the rights tointroduce supplementary laws for the same. Few of the major listed subjects are as follows;criminal law, criminal procedure, preventive detention for reasons concerned with the securityof state, marriage and divorce, transfer of property other than agricultural land, contract,actionable wrongs, bankruptcy and insolvency, trust and trustees, administration of justice,evidence and oaths, civil procedure, contempt of court, lunacy, prevention of cruelty toanimals, forests, protection of wild animals and birds, population control and family planning,trade unions, education, labour welfare, inland shipping and navigation, foodstuffs, pricecontrol, stamp duties, and others. Initially, the strength of the said list revolves around 52 butfollowing the 42nd Constitutional Amendment, five more entries were inserted.

Residuary powers are those items which are not included in either of the lists is givento the central government for legislation.1.10.11. Centre-state administrative relations

As earlier pointed out, the Constitution has clearly delimited the scope of legislativeand executive authority of the union and the states. It is at the same time expressly providedunder Article 256 of the Constitution that the executive power of the 'states shall be soexercised as to ensure compliance with the laws of Parliament. Also the union executive powerextends to the giving of such directions to the states as may appear to the Government of Indiato be necessary for the purpose. It is further stipulated under Article 246 of the Constitutionthat if the state government fails to endorse the laws passed by the Parliament within itsjurisdiction, the union government can issue directions to the states to ensure their compliance.

Adequate provisions have been made in the Constitution for the division of executivepowers between the centre and the states. The executive power of the centre extends primarilyto matters with respect to which Parliament has exclusive authority to make laws. Similarly theexecutive powers of the states extend to all those matters which are within their legislativedomain. But with regard to the matters which are in the concurrent list there are three coursesof action with the parliament in reference to the enforcement of legislation. It can leave itentirely to the states or may take over the task of 'enforcing it or it may take upon theenforcement of a part of the law, leaving the rest of it to the states for enforcement.

The executive power of the union also extends to giving of directions to the states as tothe construction and maintenance of means of communication declared to be of national ormilitary importance. The union government can give directions to the states for the protectionof railways within the states.

There is a constitutional provision under which the President may, with the consent of astate government, entrust either conditionally or unconditionally to a state or to its officers,functions in relation to any matter falling within the ambit of union executive power. A statecan also, with the consent of union government confer administrative functions on the union.

India, being a federation, the Constitution establishes dual polity with the union at thecentre and the states at the periphery. The dual government system-and the division of powersare key features of the federal system. Since cooperation and coordination between the central



and state governments are necessary for smooth running of the federation, the Constitutionprovides for a detailed division of executive, legislative and financial powers. Theadministrative relations between the union and states can be discussed under two parts (a)powers exercised by union over the states as granted by the Constitution and (b) powersexercised by extra constitutional agencies.Division of Administrative powers between the centre and the states

a. Directives by the union to the state governments: The executive power of the unionalso extends to giving of direction to the state under Article 256 for their compliance.This power of the Union extends to the limit of directing a state in a manner it feelsessential for the purpose. For instance, the union can give directives to the statepertaining to the construction and maintenance of means of communication declared tobe of national or military importance or protection of railways within the state. This isessential to ensure the implementation of parliamentary laws throughout the country.Non-compliance of the directives might lead to a situation where the union can invokeArticle 356, for imposition of President's rule in the state and take over theadministration of state.

b. Delegation of union functions to the states: Under the constitutional provision ofArticle 254 the President may, with the consent of the state government entrust eitherconditionally or unconditionally to the government, functions relating to any matterfalling within the ambit of union executive power. Under clause (2), Parliament is alsoentitled to use the state machinery for the enforcement of the union laws, and conferpowers and entrust duties to the state. A state can also, with the consent of uniongovernment confer administrative functions on the union.

c. All India Services: Besides central and state services, the Constitution under Article312 provides for the creation of additional "All-India services" common to both theunion and states. The state has the authority to suspend the officials of All IndiaServices. The power of appointment and taking disciplinary action against them vestsonly with the President of India. The idea of having an integrated well- knit All IndiaServices to manage important and crucial sectors of administration in the countrywhich was the legacy of the past was incorporated in our Constitution. Theirrecruitment, training, promotion disciplinary matters are determined by the centralgovernment. A member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) on entry into theservice is allotted to a state where he/she serves under a state government. Thisarrangement wherein a person belonging to the All India Service being responsible foradministration of .affairs both at the centre and states, brings co-operation inadministration.

d. Deployment of Military and Para-military Forces: These can be deployed in a state bythe union, if situation warrants, even against the wishes of the state government.

e. Constitution of Joint Public Service Commission for Two or more States: Subject to theprovisions of the article 315, there shall be a Public Service Commission for the Unionand a Public Service Commission for each State. Two or more States may agree thatthere shall be one Public Service Commission for that group of States, and if aresolution to that effect is passed by the House or, where there are two Houses, by each



House of the Legislature of each of those States, Parliament may by law provide for theappointment of a Joint State Public Service Commission (referred to in this Chapter asJoint Commission) to serve the needs of those States.There is also a provision in theConstitution wherein, on request by two or more states the UPSC can assist those statesin framing and operating schemes of joint recruitment to any service for whichcandidates with special qualifications are required.

f. There is also a provision in the Constitution wherein, on request by two or more statesthe UPSC can assist those states in framing and operating schemes of joint recruitmentto any service for which candidates with special qualifications are required chain ofcourts to administer both union and state laws with the Supreme Court at the apex ofhierarchy of courts. The practice of having one set of courts which was present in ourcountry under the Government of India Act 1935 continued thereafter under ourConstitution.The state governments are empowered to undertake the administration of justice and toconstitute courts for this purpose. Hence, there is a High Court in each-state as thehighest court within the territory of state which is required to administer both the unionand the state Laws. Hence, the Constitution stipulates that the Chief Justice of the HighCourt be .appointed by the President in consultation with the Chief Justice of India andthe Governor of the State. The Constitution also provides for creation by the Parliamentthrough law, a common High Court for two or more states. For example, the states ofAssam and Nagaland have a common High Court. The administration of justice fallsentirely within the sphere of state irrespective of whether a matters pertains to civil orcriminal law or whether such a law is enacted by Parliament or state legislature.

g. Inter-State Council: India is a union of states wherein the centre plays a prominent rolebut at the same time is dependent on the states for the execution of its policies. TheConstitution has provided for devices to bring about inter-governmental co-operation,effective consultations between the centre and states so that all important nationalpolicies are arrived at through dialogue, discussion and consensus. One such device isthe setting up of the Inter-State Council. The President is given the powers underArticle 263 of the Constitution to define the nature of the duties of the Council. TheCouncil is to inquire into and advise upon disputes which may have arisen between thestates. In addition, it may investigate and discuss subjects of common interest betweenthe union and the states or between two or more states in order to facilitate co-ordination of policy and action.

Three such councils have been set up - (i) Central Council of Health; (ii)Central Council of Local Self-Government; and (iii) Transport Development Council.Based on the Sarkaria Commission's recommendations, a permanent Inter-StateCouncil has been created on I April 1990, consisting of six Union Cabinet Ministersand the Chief Ministers of all the States and those Union Territories with a LegislativeAssembly with Prime Minister as the Chairman. The Sarkaria Commissionrecommended that in order to differentiate the Inter-State Council from other bodies setup under the Article it must be called Inter-Governmental Council.



h. Inter-State Water Disputes: In India there are many inter-state rivers and theirregulation and development has been a source of inter-state function. These relate tothe use, control and distribution of waters of inter-state rivers for irrigation and powergeneration. In the Indian Constitution, water-related matters within a state are includedin the state list, while the matters related to inter-state river waters are in the union list.Keeping in view this problem of unending river water disputes, the Constitutionframers vested the power to deal with it, exclusively in Parliament. The Parliamenthence, may by law provide for the adjudication of any dispute or complaint, withregard to use, distribution or control of the waters. The Inter-State Water Disputes Actwas enacted by the Parliament in 1956 according to which tribunals are set up foradjudication of water disputes referred to them.The Union government has so far, set up four Inter State Tribunals for Narmada,Krishna, Godavari and Cauvery. Parliament may constitute an : authority like the Inter-State Commerce Commission in the USA to enforce the provisions of the Constitutionrelating to freedom of trade, commerce and intercourse throughout the territory ofIndia. Such an authority has however not yet been set up.

i. Federal government involves dual government. It is therefore necessary to provide forthe acceptance of public acts of both governments to avoid inter-governmental conflict.In the functioning of federation, a state refusing to recognise acts and records ofanother state may give rise to confusion and inconvenience. To eliminate such apossibility, the Constitution of India provides the 'full faith and credit clause'. Article261 (i) of the Constitution stipulates that full credit and faith shall be given throughoutIndia to public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of the union and all the states.The term 'public acts' relates to not only statutes but to all other legislative andexecutive acts of the union and the states. This clause serves a very important purposeof eliminating any possible hindrance to the normal transaction of administrativeactivities in the Indian federation.

Centre state financial relationsThe provisions relating to the financial relations between the union and the states

are derived from the Government of India Act, 1935. The areas of taxation have beenclearly demarcated between the centre and states. The states have little powers in taxationand are heavily dependent on the centre, for financial resources. The chief source offinance of the states is the grants-in-aid from the centre.

'The seventh schedule of the Constitution provides for specific entries reserved forthe union and the states for imposing taxes. The union can levy taxes on the 12 items ofUnion List (82 to 92 A). Similarly, the state list contains 19 items on which states areempowered to collect taxes. The residuary powers in taxation vests with Parliament.

There is a four-fold classification of tax revenues between the union and the states.These are:a. Taxes levied by the union but collected and wholly appropriated by the state (Article

270). These are stamp duties and duties of excise on medicinal and toilet preparations.b. Taxes levied and collected by the centre, but wholly assigned to the states (Article

269). These include duties on succession to property other than agricultural land, estate



duty on property other than agricultural land, terminal taxes on goods and passengers(railway, sea or air), taxes on railway fares and freights etc.

c. Taxes levied and collected by tile union and distributed between the union and thestates (Article 270). This includes taxes on income other than agricultural income.

d. Taxes levied and collected by the union but may be shared with the states. Thisincludes the customer and excise duties if parliament by law so provides.

Grants-in-aid and LoansBesides the devolution of revenues, from different taxes, the centre provides grants-in-

aid to the states as per Article 275 to the States for the purpose of promoting the welfare of theScheduled Tribes and raising the level of administration of the scheduled Areas. Also everyyear grants are made to the states, as elected by the parliament on the recommendations of theFinance Commission.Borrowing Powers -

The Constitution also provides for the borrowing of money by the union and stategovernments under certain provisions. As per Article 292, the union government has powers toborrow money on the security of the Consolidated Fund of India either within or outside thecountry, subject to limitations imposed by parliament. Recently the state governments are alsoempowered to borrow money on the same basis from outside India.Finance commission

Besides, provisions relating to demarcate of taxes and distribution between the unionand the states, Article 280 provides for the constitution of the Finance Commission. ThePresident of India constitutes it every five years. It is to consist of a chairman and fourmembers.

The Finance Commission is entrusted with the tasks to recommend to the Presidentabout the (1) distribution of the proceeds of tax between the union and the 8teta and theallocation between the states of the respective shares of such proceeds; (ii) principles thatshould govern the grants-in-aid out of the Consolidated Fund of India; (iii) measures needed toaugment the consolidated Fund of a state to supplement the resources of the panchayats in thestates and municipalities; and (iv) any other matter referred to by the President in the interestof sound finance. Till now twelve Finance Commission have been set up. The ThirteenthFinance Commission has recently been constituted with C. Rangarajan as the Chairman.Financial Relations during Emergency

The financial relations between the union and the states undergoes changes duringproclamation of emergency. In case of financial emergency imposed by the President underArticle 360, it shall be competent for the union to:

a. give directions to the state to observe such cannons of financial propriety as may bespecified in the communication; I ii) instruct state governments that the salaries andallowances of all public servents including judges be reduced in the specified manner;and

b. Reserve for the consideration of the President all money bills and financial bills afterthey are passed by the Legislatures for the state.



MODULE-II

Central Administration

2.1. IntroductionThe Constitution of India is a remarkable document. It occupies an important place not

only among the newly emerged States but also in the constitutional history of the world. TheConstitution of India deals, in an elaborate manner with the problem of relations betweenUnion and the States, problems relating to public services, special classes like Anglo-Indians,scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. The Constitution embodies an elaborate list ofFundamental Rights and also the Directive Principles of the State Policy. The Preamble of theConstitution declares India to be a sovereign socialist secular democratic republic. A study ofits features reveals that it is a unique document in size, form and content. In this Unit, we shallstudy the important features of our Constitution, role of council of ministers, constitutionalauthorities, constitutional commissions and the powers of the central government.

Indian Constitution is a written constitution. It is the most lengthy and detailedconstitutional document in the world. It has borrowed most of its provisions from all theknown constitutions in such a way that they suit the existing conditions and needs of thecountry. The constitution makers framed the chapter on Fundamental Rights upon the model ofAmerican constitution. Parliamentary system of government has been adopted from the U.K.Idea of the Directive Principles of State Policy was taken from the Constitution of EireRepublic of Ireland. Provisions regarding emergencies were added in the light of theConstitution of German Reich and the Government of India Act, 1935.

Another important feature of our Constitution is the establishment of a parliamentarysystem of government both at the centre and in the states. In a parliamentary system ofgovernment the executive is responsible to the Parliament and not to the President. It creates astrong centre and vests the constituent and residual powers of legislation in central legislaturecalled Parliament. The reasons behind adoption of a parliamentary democracy are two: Firstly,our past experience is working with parliamentary system during the British rule and secondly,the parliamentary system of government harmonises with the demand for 'a strong centrewhich the Presidential system with divided authority does not. In the Parliamentary system ofgovernment, the executive and legislature are not independent of each other, instead theexecutive is a part of the legislature an4 therefore, unlike in a presidential system, conflicts areless likely to arise between them.2.2. Federalism

The political structure of the Indian Constitution is based on the twin principles ofparliamentary system of government and federalism though the term 'Federation' has not beenused in the Constitution. A survey of our Constitution indicates that it possesses all theessential features of a federal system. While in a unitary state, there is only one government,namely the national government, in a federal state, there are two governments - the national orfederal government and the governments of the component states.

A federal state is a fusion of several states into a single state in regard to mattersaffecting common interests, while each state enjoys Autonomy in regard to other matters. Thestates are not agents of federal government but both the federal government and the state



governments draw their authority from the Constitution. The states do not have a right tosecede from the federation.

A federal state derives its existence from the Constitution. Every power - executive,legislative or judicial, whether it belongs to the federation or to the component states, issubordinate to and controlled by the Constitution. Courts have the final power to interpret theConstitution and nullify any action on the part of the federal and state governments or theirdifferent organs which violate the provisions of the Constitution. Another important feature ofa federal state is that there is a division of powers between the federal government and thegovernments of the components states.

All these features are present in the Indian political system. The Constitution of Indiacan be both federal and unitary according to requirements and circumstances. It is framed towork as a federal system during normal times. But in times of war, insurrection or thebreakdown of constitutional machinery in the states, it works more like a unitary system. Aproclamation of emergency in the country automatically transforms a federal state into aunitary state.

The distribution of legislative powers between the Centre and the States has beenprovided for in the Constitution according to three lists of subjects, these are Union, State andconcurrent. The union list gives the Centre exclusive authority to act in matters of nationalimportance and includes among its ninety seven items like defence, foreign affairs, currency,communication, banking, income taxation and custom duties.

The State list has sixty one entries like law and order, local government, public health,education and agriculture.

There are fifty two entries in the Concurrent list. These include the legal system, tradeand industry and economic and social planning. In respect of Concurrent items the laws passedby Central Parliament prevail over those passed by State legislatures.

The residual powers lie with the Union and in conflict between Union and State, theUnion law prevails.

Thus, the Constitution gives vast powers to the Central Government as compared to theState governments. During emergency, the Parliament can make laws for the whole or any partof the territory of India with respect to any of the matters, enumerated in the State list. ThePresident, if advised by the Governor, or on his own, feels that the government of the Statecannot be carried on in accordance 'with the provisions of the Constitution may proclaim astate of emergency and assume all executive functions to himself and declare the powers ofState Assembly to be under the authority of the Parliament. Even, the RajyaSabha by a twothird majority can ask the Parliament to make laws on the items in/State list for a temporaryperiod.2.3. The Council of Ministers

At the head of the Union executive stands the President of India and the States, it is theGovernor who is the executive head. Though the executive power of the Union is vested in thepresident, he in practice is aided and advised by the Council of Ministers headed by the PrimeMinister. The Union legislature is called Parliament. It consists of the President and the twoHouses. The Lower HOW; is called the House of People or 'LokSabha'. Entire responsibility ofenactment of laws rests with the Prime Minister who heads the Council of Ministers. The



Constitution provides that there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister at thehead to aid and advise the President who shall, in exercise of his functions, act in accordancewith the advice rendered after such reconsideration (Article 74). While the Prime Minister isselected by the President, the other Ministers are appointed by the President on the advice ofthe Prime Minister (Article 75(1).

The number of members of the Council of Ministers is now specified in theConstitution. As per the constitution (Ninety-first Amendment) Act, 2003 the total number ofMinisters, including the Prime Minister, in the Council of Ministers shall not exceed fifteen percent of the total number of members of the House of the People (LokSabha). All the Ministersdo not belong to the same rank. They are classified under three ranks; Cabinet Ministers,Ministers of State and Deputy Ministers.

Thus, the Council of Ministers is a composite body, consisting of different categories.The rank of the different ministers is determined by the Prime Minister. . He also allocatesportfolios among them. Ministers may be chosen from members of either house and a ministerwho is a member of one house has a right to speak and take part in the proceedings of the otherHouse, though he has no right to vote in the House of which he is not a member. Under theConstitution, there is no bar to the appointment of a person from outside the legislature asminister. But he cannot continue as minister for more than six months unless he secures a seatin either house of Parliament. Though theoretically the function of the Council of Ministers isto only aid and advice the President, practically the vast power provided to the President by theConstitution is actually exercised by Council of Ministers with the Prime Minister as theirhead.

The Constitution is based on the concept of collective responsibility. The Council ofMinisters is collectively responsible to the lower house of the Parliament. The essence ofcollective responsibility is that once a decision is taken by the government, it is binding on allthe ministers. Ministry as a body, is under a constitutional obligation to resign as soon as itloses the majority in the lower House (House of People) of the legislature.2.4. The Central Secretariat

The Central Secretariat stands for the complex of departments or ministries whoseadministrative heads are designated as Secretaries and whose political heads are ministers. Inthis Unit, we shall briefly trace the evolution of the Secretariat, and describe its structure andfunctions. The tenure system, and the staffing of the Secretariat will also be discussed. Underthe Secretariat there is a network of agencies which are responsible for the execution of thegovernment policies. The relation between these agencies and the Secretariat will also beexplained in this Unit.2.4.1. Origin of the Central Secretariat

The Secretariat in India referred to the office of the Governor General in British India.However, the size of the Central Secretariat and the scope of its activities have undergoneconsiderable change over the last two hundred years of its evolution in keeping with thechanges in the aims, objectives and nature of the central government in India. At the end of theeighteenth century the central government consisted of a Governor General and threeCouncillors, and the Secretariat of four departments.



Each of them was under a Secretary, and there was a Chief Secretary heading them all.A hundred years later, on the eve of the Mont-ford Reforms in 1919, the Government of Indiaconsisted of a Governor General and seven members and there were nine secretarialdepartments. This number remained the same till the outbreak of the Second World War in1939. Prior to 1919, the Central Government, while administering certain subjects directly likethe army, posts and telegraphs and railways, had by and large left the task of implementationof other subjects to the local provincial governments.

A major change came in the above position with the inauguration of the reforms of1919 which for the first time, made a division of functions between the Central and provincialgovernments. Both the Central and provincial governments became responsible for both policyand administration. As a result, the role of the secretariat began to change from a merelypolicy-formulating, supervising and coordinating agency to that of an executive agency aswell. The inauguration of provincial autonomy in 1937 and the outbreak of the Second WorldWar accelerated the above process. In consequence, there was a four- fold increase of theCentral Secretariat and its total strength rose to about two hundred.

The Government of India was still struggling with the post-war problems ofdemobilisation and reconstruction, when Independence came, accompanied by the partition ofthe country. At its very inception, therefore, the new government found itself faced withtremendous problems like rehabilitation of refugees from Pakistan, external aggression inJammu and Kashmir, integration of princely states into the Indian Union, internal security,shortage of essential articles, at a time when there occurred serious shortage of personnel dueto the British Officers returning home and many Muslim officers opting for Pakistan. Soonafter, the adoption of the goal of a welfare state made unprecedented demands on the alreadyoverburdened administrative machinery. At the same time, the Industrial Policy Resolution of1948 started the process of a vast expansion of the public sector. The inevitable consequenceof such a vast expansion, in the functions and responsibilities of the government was a markedincrease in the number of departments, and personnel. Thus, the number of departments in thesecretariat, which stood at four in 1858. (9 in 19 19, 10 in 1939, 18 in 1947) had risen to 74 by1994.2.4.2. Role and functions of Central Secretariat

The Central Secretariat occupies a key position in Indian administration. TheSecretariat refers to the conglomeration of various ministries/departments of the centralgovernment. The Secretariat works as a single unit with collective responsibility as in the caseof the Council of Ministers. Under existing rules, each secretariat department is required toconsult any other department that may be interested or concerned before disposing of a case.Secretaries, thus, are secretaries to the Government as a whole and not to any particularminister.

The Secretariat assists the ministers in the formulation of governmental policies.Ministers finalise policies on the basis of adequate data, precedents and other relevantinformation. The Secretariat makes these available to the minister, thus, enabling him toformulate policies. The Secretariat assists the ministers in their legislative work too. TheSecretariat prepares legislative drafts to be introduced in the legislature. It engages in thecollection of relevant information for answering parliamentary questions and also, for various



parliamentary committees. It carries out a detailed scrutiny of a problem bringing an overallcomprehensive viewpoint on it., getting approval, if required, of other lateral agencies like theMinistry of Lab and the Ministry of Finance; and also, consulting other organisationsconcerned with a particular matter. The secretariat is the clearing house preliminary togovernmental decisions. It functions as the main channel of communication between thegovernment and other concerned agencies like the Planning Commission, FinanceCommission, etc. And lastly, the Secretariat also ensures that field offices execute, withefficiency and economy, the policies and decisions of the Government.The Central Secretariat system in India is based on two principles:

1. The task of policy formulation needs to be separated from policy implementation.2. Maintaining Cadre of Officers operating on the tenure system is a prerequisite to the

working of the Secretariat system.The Central Secretariat is a policy making body of the government and is not,ko undertakework of execution, unless necessitated by the lack of official agencies to perform certain tasks.The Central Secretariat normally performs the following functions:

a. Assisting the minister in the discharge of his policy making and parliamentaryfunctions.

b. Framing legislation, rules and principles of procedure.c. Sectorial planning and programme formulation.

1. Budgeting and control of expenditure in respect of activities of theministry/department.

2. Securing administrative and financial approval to operational programme andtheir subsequent modifications.

3. Supervision and control over the execution of policies and programmes by theexecutive departments or semi-autonomous field agencies.

4. Initiating steps to develop greater personnel and organisational competence bothin the ministry/department and its executive agencies.

5. Assisting in increasing coordination at the Central level.2.4.3. Structure of Central Secretariat

The Central Secretariat is a collection of various ministries and department.A ministry is responsible for the formulation of the policy of government within its

sphere of responsibility as well as for the execution and review of that policy. A ministry, forthe purpose of internal organisation, is divided into the following sub- groups with an officer incharge of each of them.

Department – Secretary/Additional/Special SecretaryWing – Additional/Joint SecretaryDivision - Deputy SecretaryBranch - Under SecretarySection - Section OfficerThe lowest of these units is the section in charge of a Section Officer and consists of a

number of assistants, clerks, typists and peons. It deals with the work relating to the subjectallotted to it. It is also referred to as the office. Two sections constitute the branch which isunder the charge of an undersecretary, also known as the branch officer. Two branches



ordinarily form a division which is normally headed by a deputy secretary. When the volumeof work in a ministry exceeds the manageable charge of a secretary, one or more wings areestablished with a joint secretary in charge of each wing. At the top of the hierarchy comes thedepartment which is headed by the secretary himself or in some cases by an additional specialsecretary. In some cases, a department may be as autonomous as a ministry and equivalent to itin rank.2.4.4. Ministry and Department

The distinction between 'department' and 'ministry' may be explained by referring to'ministry' as the minister's charge and 'department as the secretary's charge. Although aministry stands for the minister's charge, its administrative divisions are not uniform. Aministry may not have a department: or may have one or more than one department in which itis formally divided.

While a department may be referred to as the secretary's charge, all secretaries,although they get the same salary, are not necessarily of equal 'rank'. A Ministry may have twoor more secretaries, each in charge of a specified segment of the Ministry's work, or of adepartment in it, but there is, in addition, one secretary who is head of, and represents, theentire ministry. Although all of them are secretaries, the former are subordinate to the latterwho, in addition to his own work, coordinates the work of these secretaries ofdepartments/segments of work within the ministry.2.4.5. Cabinet Secretariat

On the attainment of Independence in 1947 a popular cabinet headed by the PrimeMinister replaced the Executive Council of Viceroy. The Executive Council Secretariatformally became the Cabinet Secretariat. Consequently the Secretary of the Executive Councilof the Viceroy was renamed as the Cabinet Secretary.

The Cabinet Secretariat is a staff body, which has an important coordinating role in theprocess of decision-making at the highest level and operates under the direction of the PrimeMinister. The Cabinet Secretary is the administrative head of the Cabinet Secretariat.2.4.6. Evolution of Cabinet Secretariat in India

In 1948, the cabinet decided to start the Economic and Statistical Coordination Unit asa part of the Cabinet Secretariat. Its work was to secure all available information from existingstatistical cells of the various ministries /departments and to present this informationperiodically to the cabinet. It was also required to coordinate the activities of various ministersand to give them advice about future work. The Unit also took over the work relating todevelopment schemes from the Secretariat of the Development Board pending the constitutionof the Planning Commission. In this capacity, its function was to examine various developmentschemes of the Centre and the States and report to the cabinet about them. After the setting upof the Planning Commission in March 1950, this work was transferred to the Commission.

In 1949, the cabinet approved the Central Statistical Office to be attached to thesecretariat and to establish a Central Statistical Unit which was set up in 1950. This Unit wasto function in an advisory capacity. Later in February 1951, the work relating to statisticalcoordination and statistical publication of a general nature, which was previously beinghandled by the Economic Adviser to the government of India in the then Ministry ofCommerce was transferred to the Cabinet Secretariat. In May 1961, a Central Statistical



Organisation was set up which together with the Statistical Unit was attached to the CabinetSecretariat.

Following the report on the reorganisation of the machinery, of the Government (1949)the Cabinet decided that the Economic Committee of the Secretariat which was previouslylocated in the Ministry of Finance should be treated as a part of the Cabinet Secretariat andcalled it Economic Wing. The Economic Wing was intended to develop eventually into aCentral Economic Office. However, the proposal did not materialise, and it was decided thatthe work done by the Economic Wing should be transferred to the Finance Ministry which hadalready set up a Central Economic Office. Early in the same year the work relating to the JointCommunication - Electronics Committee, which was a sub-committee of the Chiefs of StaffCommittee was transferred from the Ministry of Defence to the Cabinet Secretariat andattached to its Military Wing.

Organisation and Method Division (O&M) of the Government of India startedfunctioning in March 1954, continued to remain as a separate wing of the Cabinet Secretariattill 25 March 1964, when a new department called Administrative Reforms was set up in theMinistry of Home Affairs and the O&M Division was transferred to this new department. Itwas decided on 1 5 February, 1961 that the Central Statistical Organisation, an attached officeof the Cabinet Secretariat, should be given the authority and status of a department of thegovernment. Accordingly, the Department of Statistics was created in April 1961 as a part ofthe Cabinet Secretariat with adequate authority to consider statistical methods; to advise on andissue general directions regarding the setting up of standards, norms and methods of datacollection to 811 central and state agencies; and to deal with Evolution of Cabinet Secretariatin India.

In 1948, the cabinet decided to start the Economic and Statistical Coordination Unit asa part of the Cabinet Secretariat. Its work was to secure all available information from existingstatistical cells of the various ministries/departments and to present this informationperiodically to the cabinet. It was also required to coordinate the activities of various ministersand to give them advice about future work. The Unit also took over the work relating todevelopment schemes from the Secretariat of the Development Board pending the constitutionof the Planning Commission. In this capacity, its function was to examine various developmentschemes of the Centre and the States and report to the cabinet about them. After the setting upof the Planning Commission in March 1950, this work was transferred to the Commission.

In 1949, the cabinet approved the Central Statistical Office to be attached to thesecretariat and to establish a Central Statistical Unit which was set up in 1950. This Unit wasto function in an advisory capacity. Later in February 1951, the work relating to statisticalcoordination and statistical publication of a general nature, which was previously beinghandled by the Economic Adviser to the government of India in the then Ministry ofCommerce was transferred to the Cabinet Secretariat. In May 1961, a Central StatisticalOrganisation was set up which together with the Statistical Unit was attached to the CabinetSecretariat.

Following the report on the reorganisation of the machinery, of the Government (1949)the Cabinet decided that the Economic Committee of the Secretariat which was previouslylocated in the Ministry of Finance should be treated as a part of the Cabinet Secretariat and



called it Economic Wing. The Economic Wing was intended to develop eventually into aCentral Economic Office. However, the proposal did not materialise, and it was decided thatthe work done by the Economic Wing should be transferred to the Finance Ministry which hadalready set up a Central Economic Office. Early in the same year the work relating to the JointCommunication - Electronics Committee, which was a sub-committee of the Chiefs of StaffCommittee was transferred from the Ministry of Defence to the Cabinet Secretariat andattached to its Military Wing.

Organisation and Method Division (O&M) of the Government of India startedfunctioning in March 1954, continued to remain as a separate wing of the Cabinet Secretariattill 25 March 1964, when a new department called Administrative Reforms was set up in theMinistry of Home Affairs and the O&M Division was transferred to this new department. Itwas decided on 1 5 February, 1961 that the Central Statistical Organisation, an attached officeof the Cabinet Secretariat, should be given the authority and status of a department of thegovernment. Accordingly, the Department of Statistics was created in April 1961 as a part ofthe Cabinet Secretariat with adequate authority to consider statistical methods; to advise on andissue general directions regarding the setting up of standards, norms and methods of datacollection to all central and state agencies; and to deal with

October 7 that a Unit called the Directorate-General of Resettlement, should be set upin its Secretariat for the formulation and implementation of schemes of relief and rehabilitationin the areas affected. This Unit functioned under the overall guidance of the Committee ofSecretaries headed by the Cabinet Secretary. This Unit was later abolished and residuary worktransferred to the Department of Rehabilitation on 1 July 1966. In January 1966 the Bureau ofPublic Enterprises was shifted form' the Ministry of Finance to the Cabinet Secretariat but wassoon re-transferred to the ministry.

Perhaps the most important change made, as a result of the recommendations of theAdministrative Reforms Commission, was the creation of a Central Personnel Agency in theCabinet Secretariat in August 1970 and the transfer of the Department of AdministrativeReforms from the Home Ministry to the Cabinet Secretariat in February 1973.

The issue of the location of the Central Administrative Reforms Agency, however,proved to be controversial. When the Government of India decided to set up an Organisationand Method Agency, there was a controversy as to its location. Both Home and FinanceMinistries put forward their claims, but it was ultimately decided to locate it in the CabinetSecretariat. But the Home Ministry ultimately succeeded after an interval of ten years to getthe Organisation and Method Agency shifted from the Cabinet Secretariat to the HomeMinistry with the elevated status of a department. However, again after nearly a decade theDepartment of Administrative Reforms was once again located in the Cabinet Secretariat in1973. But, during the Janata Government period the Department of Personnel andAdministrative Reforms was again transferred back to the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1977.But presently it is located in the Ministry of Personnel and Public Grievances.2.4.7. Organisation and functions of Cabinet Secretariat

The organisation of the Cabinet Secretariat and its role has been constantly shiftingwith the reorganisation of the executive functions of the union government.



The Cabinet Secretariat is organised in three wings - the Civil Wing, the Military Wingand the Intelligence Wing. The main Civil Wing provides secretarial machinery for the cabinet.It provides secretarial services for the various standing committees and ad hoc committees ofthe cabinet and also to a number of committees of secretaries which function under theChairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary. It also deals with the framing of the Rules of Businessof the Union government. The Military Wing is responsible for all secretarial work connectedwith the meetings of the Defence Committee, National Defence Council, Military AffairsCommittee and a number of other committees concerned with defence matters. TheIntelligence Wing concerns itself with matters relating to the joint Intelligence Committee ofthe Cabinet. In addition to the three wings there is a Joint Communication ElectronicsCommittee located in the Cabinet Secretariat. The head of the Cabinet Secretariat is theCabinet Secretary.

The efficiency of the Cabinet depends to a large extent on the Cabinet Secretariatwhose duty is to prep& in a meaningful way the agenda of the Cabinet meeting, to provideinformation and material necessary for its deliberations, and of drawing up records of thediscussions and decisions both of the Cabinet and its committees. It also oversees theimplementation of the necessary decisions by the ministries concerned. This last functioninvolves the calling of information from various ministries and departments. It keeps thePresident, the Vice President and all the ministries informed of the major activities of theGovernment conducted in several ministries by circulating monthly summaries and brief noteson important matters. It serves the Committees of Secretaries which meet periodically underthe Chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary to consider and advise on problems requiring inter-ministerial consultation and coordination. It finalises the Rules of Business and allocates thebusiness of the Government of India to the ministries and departments under the direction ofthe Prime Minister and with the approval of the President. In addition, the Cabinet Secretariatsupplies secretarial assistance to Cabinet Committees.2.4.8. Cabinet Secretary

The office of the Cabinet Secretary and its functions has evolved over a period of time.The Administrative Reforms Commission 1969 recommended that Chief Secretary shouldappointed for the period of three years. This term of three years was recommended to enablethe functionary to provide effective leadership to the Civil Service. Recently, N.D.A.Government accepted the recommendations of the Administrative Reforms Commission thatCabinet Secretary should be appointed for the fix term of two years. The first two benefits wasT.R. Prasad. He is a member of the civil service and presides over the committees ofsecretaries. These committees examine inter-ministry matters, and issues that concern theGovernment as a whole. The Cabinet refers certain matters to them as well. The committees,however, recommend a decision to the concerned Ministry; they do not decide.

The Cabinet Secretary directly handles all senior appointments in the Government.From the early 1950s, the practice followed is that the Cabinet Secretary usually does notprepare papers for the Cabinet or its committees, nor does he take upon himself theresponsibility for a comprehensive scrutiny of the agenda papers for the Cabinet. All that hedoes is to ensure that the notes are self-contained and that appropriate details for discussion are



provided, occasionally seeking clarification or raising points for Modification with the ministryconcerned.

The Cabinet Secretary is present in all meetings of the Cabinet and its committees. Heis responsible for preparing the agenda, priorities of items and allocation of subjects to Cabinetcommittees. The Prime Minister approves these. In these matters the Cabinet Secretary has toexercise his judgement taking into account the national priorities arid what is consideredimportant by the ministries. The Cabinet minutes are prepared by the Cabinet Secretary, anddecisions communicated to the ministries by him.

The Cabinet Secretary has to play varied roles. He must keep track of urgent problemsin socio-economic and political aspects, on bottlenecks in the implementation of Governmentprogrammes, on issues that the Prime Minister should know urgently and matters requiring hisdecisions. The Cabinet Secretary must use his discretion in all these matters and keep himselfup-to-date with relevant data. As there are no fixed sources for such data, and, indeed therecould not be, the interpersonal, skills of the incumbent and the confidence he evokes are twoimportant requirements of the job.2.4.9. Cabinet Committees

The Cabinet makes use of the committee system to facilitate decision-making inspecific areas. The Business Rules provide for the constitution of standing committees of theCabinet to ensure speedy decisions on vital questions of political and economic significanceand other matters of importance as also to ensure coordination in well-defined fields ofadministration. These committees change according to the requirements of the situation andoccasionally ad hoc committees are appointed.

The number of such committees has been changing from time to time and no outsidercould tell exactly what the existing committees are at a given time.

However, the membership of the Cabinet Committees normally varies from three toeight. The Chairmanship of them is shared between the Prime Minister and Home Minister.The committees which function on a more or less permanent basis are the Political AffairsCommittee, Economic Affairs Committee, Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, AppointmentsCommittee, Committee on Accommodation, Committee on Industry and Trade, and theCommittee on Food and Agriculture etc. Of these the most powerful is the Political AffairsCommittee. Consisting as it does of the senior most ministers, it functions as a super Cabinet inproviding direction to the government.

The Cabinet Committees are instruments to organise coordination in clearly definedfields of administration and relieve the Cabinet of their burden of work. The flexibility inmembership of these committees enable interested Ministers to exchange views, and arrive atagreed solutions without involving the Cabinet, thus, reducing pressure of work upon the latter.Lastly, there is considerable sharing of work, with the result that many matters which couldotherwise travel up to the Cabinet for decision-making are settled at the level of CabinetCommittees. This ensures continuous coordination on vital economic and political issues, andspeedy decision making when required.

Any matter which calls for a Cabinet decision may come directly to the appropriatecommittee before the Cabinet takes a decision. The Cabinet may often rarely accept thedecision already taken by the Cabinet Committees.



However, despite the fact that some Cabinet Committees have often exercised realauthority, these committees have not been uniformly or consistently .effective. Firstly, they donot cover all important areas @I governmental functioning. Secondly, they can take up amatter only when it is referred to by the Minister concerned or by the Cabinet. Lastly, they donot meet regularly, which is absolutely necessary if sustained attention is to be given tocomplex problems and the progress in implementation of important policies and programmesis to be kept under constant review.2.4.10. All India Services

A unique feature of the Indian Administration system, is the creation of certain servicescommon to both - the Centre and the States, namely, the All India Services. These arecomposed of officers who are in the exclusive employment of neither Centre nor the States,and may at any time be at the disposal of either. The officers of these Services are recruited onan all-India basis with common qualifications and uniform scales of pay, and notwithstandingtheir division among the States, each of them forms a single service with a common status anda common standard of rights and remuneration.

Like other federal polities the Centre and the constituent states, under the IndianConstitution, have their separate public services to administer their respective affairs. Thus,there are Central or Union Services to administer Union subjects, like defence, income tax,customs, posts and telegraphs, railways, etc. The officers of these Services are exclusively inthe employment of the Union Government. Similarly, the states have their own separate andindependent services. Ever since the creation of the Indian Civil Service in the days of the EastIndia Company there has always existed in Indian an all India cadre of service. All Indiacadres were introduced almost in all departments of the Central Government. These serviceswere, however, not under the control of the Governor-general; they were directly under theSecretary of State for India and his Council. No. All- India service officer could be dismissedfrom his service by any other authority than the Secretary of State-in-Council. An officer hada right of appeal to that body, if he was adversely dealt with in important disciplinary matters.His salary, pension, etc. were not subject to the vote of any Indian legislature.

These elitist Services, unresponsive and unaccountable to public opinion, found itdifficult to adjust themselves to the reform-era introducing every limited responsiblegovernment under the Government of India Act of 1919. The Lee Commission in 1924recommended the abolition of certain all India Services, particularly those dealing withdepartments that had been 'transferred' to Indian hands under the Act of 1919 namely theIndian Educational Service, Indian Agricultural Service, Indian Veterinary Service and theRoads and Building Branch of the Indian Service of Engineers. It, however, recommended theretention of the Indian Civil Service, Indian Police, Indian Forest Service, Indian MedicalService and the Irrigation Branch of the Indian Service of Engineers. It also recommended theincreasing Indianisation of these Services. The Commission further recommended that anyBritish officer should be free to retire on a proportionate pension if at any time the departmentin which they were employed should be transferred to the control of responsible Indianministers. These recommendations were implemented in practice.

Further changes were made in the position of these Services by the Government ofIndia Act of 1935. Indians had always been demanding the abolition of All India Services. Itwas argued before the Joint Select Committee of the British Parliament considering the draft of



the Act of 1935, and emphasised by the British India delegation in their Joint Memorandum. Itstated that further recruitment by the Secretary of State of Officers serving under the ProvincialGovernments which were to be handed over to popular control was undesirable, and thatServices in future be recruited and controlled by the authorities in India. The Joint Committee,however, only partly accepted such demands, and recommended the continuance of ICS, IPand IMS (Civil). This recommendation 'was embodied in Section 224 of the Act of 1935. Thus,at the time of transfer of power in 1947 recruitment was open only to two all India services,namely the ICS and the IP, the recruitment to the IMS had been suspended. The mostimportant and the highest ranking of all such services was the Indian Civil Service commonlyknown as the ICS which owing to its very high remuneration and enormous authority andprestige, constituted the 'steel frame' of the British Government of India. When the Britishwere leaving India, there were ten all lndia services and twenty-two Central Services. Whileguaranteeing the rights of the old Services, the new Indian Government had foreseen the needfor replacing them with Services controlled and manned by Indians. In fact, as early asOctober, 1946, Sardar Patel, the then Home Member in the Governor General's ExecutiveCouncil, had secured the agreement of the Provincial Governments to the formation of the twonew all India services, namely the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian PoliceService (IPS), which were to replace the old ICS and IP.2.4.11. Constitution of All India Services

The Constitution also provides for the all India cadre of Civil Services. It adoptsspecifically the IAS and the IPS cadres which had already been created earlier (Article 312-2).It empowers the Union Parliament to create more of such all India services whenever it isdeemed necessary or expedient in the national interest, provided the Council of States (theUpper House) passes a resolution to the effect supported by not less than two-thirds of themembers present and voting (Article 312-1). Since the Council of States is composed of therepresentatives of different States, its support will ensure the consent of the States to thecreation of new Services. The Constitution also authorises the Parliament to regulate by lawthe recruitment and the conditions of services of persons appointed to these Services.Accordingly, the All India Service Act was passed by the Parliament in October 1951. Sincethe inauguration of the Constitution only one, namely, the Indian Forest Service, has beensetup.

In 1951 All India Services Act was passed. By virtue of powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section (3) of this Act the Central Government framed new sets of rules andregulations pertaining to the All India Services. It became necessary because the old rules atcertain places had become redundant. The rules that were in force before commencement ofthe Act were also allowed to continue. Thus, there came into existence two sets of rulesregulating the conditions of All India Services. The old rules made by the Secretary of State, orthe Governor General in Council, which regulated the conditions of service of ICS and IPofficers, and the new rules made under the 1951 Act were applicable to the officers of theIndian Administrative and Police Services.2.5. Indian Administrative Services

The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the direct descendant of the old Indian CivilService. As an all India service, it is under the ultimate control of the Union Government, butis divided into State cadres, each under the immediate control of a State Government. The



salary and the pension of these officers are met by the States. But the disciplinary control andimposition of penalties rest with the Central Government which is guided, in this respect, bythe advice of the Union Public Service Commission. On appointment, the officers are posted todifferent State cadres. The strength of each State cadre, however, is so fixed as to include areserve of officers who can be deputed for service under the Union Government for one ormore 'tenures' of three, four or five years before they return to the State cadre. This ensures thatthe Union Government has at its disposal the services of officers with first-hand knowledgeand experience of conditions in the States, while the State Governments have the advantage oftheir officers being familiar with the policies and programmes of the Union Government. Suchan arrangement works for the mutual benefit of both governments. The majority of individualofficers have an opportunity of serving at least one spell of duty under the Union Government;many have more than one such spell. The practice of rotating senior officers in and out of theSecretariat position is known in official parlance as the tenure system.

Another distinctive feature of this Service is its multi-purpose character. It is composedof 'generalist administrators' who are expected, from time to time, to hold posts involving awide variety of duties and functions; for example, maintenance of law and order, collection ofrevenue, regulation of trade, commerce and industry, welfare activities development andextension work, etc. In brief, the IAS is intended to serve all the purposes formerly served bythe ICS except providing officers for the judiciary. Thus, this Service is a kind of generalistservice, and its officers are liable for posting in almost any branch, of the administration.2.5.1. Importance of Indian Administrative Service

We will now discuss the distinct role of the Indian Administrative Service. The Indianarrangement creating a common pool of officers, who are in the exclusive employ of neitherthe centre nor the states and fill the top posts in both Union and State administrations, comesnearest to the ideal of joint action, co-operation and co-ordination, between the two levels ofgovernment as envisaged in a federal polity. On the one hand, a single integrated federalservice common to both the Centre and the States would be a negation of State autonomy. Onthe other hand, if the federal government is denied its own services, one of the two results mayfollow - either the State services will be reduced to the status of being mere agents of theCentral Government, or the Central Government may find itself helpless in case of non-cooperative attitude on the part of the State services. The Indian experiment avoids both byproviding separate and independent Union and State services and yet facilities coordinationand cooperation, and, if necessary, joint action between the two levels of government bycreating a common cadre of officers at the top level. It also avoids the possibility of the bestbrains preferring Federal service to State service, leaving the latter to be manned by the secondor the third best. As it is, the all-India services, being recruited by the Union Government on anall-1ndia basis, talent to States. No better way of strengthening the State services can possiblybe suggested. Again, constant transfers of such officers from the States to the Centre and backmakes them aware of and conversant with the administrative problems at both levels of theGovernment. Such officers, therefore, can be the best agents for carrying out administrativecoordination between the federal and State administration.2.5.2. Indian Police Service

The Indian Police Service is an original all India Service (it had pre-independenceorigins) which differs from its compeer - the IAS in two ways: (i) most of the officers in this



service work only in the state since there are only a few police posts at the Centre and (ii) itspay scale and status are lower than those of the IAS. The officers of the IPS are recruited fromthe same unified All India Civil Service examination which recruits all members of the IAS,IFS and other Central Civil Services. Recruits to the IPS are first given a five monthsfoundational training and later special training at the Sardar Pate1 National Police Academy,Hyderabad. The subjects of study and the training is drill, handling of weapons, etc., whichhave a direct bearing on the normal work of a police officer. The syllabus of training includesstudies of crime psychology, scientific aids in detection of crime, methods of combatingcorruption and emergency relief. After completing a year's training, the probationer passes anexamination conducted by the UPSC. He is, then appointed as an Assistant Superintendent ofPolice. But, before this appointment he has to undergo a year's programme of training; he isgiven practical training which requires him to do the work of various subordinate officers. It isonly after this that he is appointed an Assistant Superintendent of Police.

As an all India Service it is under the ultimate control of the Union Government, but isdivided into state cadres, each under the immediate control of a state government. The IndianPolice Service is managed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, though the general policiesrelating to its personnel are determined by the Department of Personnel and AdministrativeReforms2.6. Recruitment of All Indian Services

The recruitment is made by the Central Government on the basis of a competitiveexamination annually conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Theexamination is a combined one - for a numb& of services like the IFS, IAS, IPS and theCentral Services Class I and 11. To appear at the examination, a candidate must be between theage of 21. and 30. Only a University graduate (one holding B.A. or B.Sc. or an equivalentdegree) can appear at the examination. The examination combines a written test of a highstandard with a 'personality test' by the Union Public Service Commission in the form of apersonal interview. The former aims at judging the level of intelligence and academic learningand the latter attempts to make a measure of the qualities of personality and character. Theexamination system is .modelled on the British 'general' type rather than the American'specialised' type.

There is a provision for relaxation of age up to a maximum of five years for SCISTcandidates and three years for candidates belonging to OBC category. The number ofpermissible attempts to appear in the examination has been restricted to four, with relaxationfor OBC candidates (seven attempts) and SCIST candidates (no limit).

Prior to 1979 a single competitive examination used to be held. There were threecompulsory papers: Essay, General knowledge and General English - each carrying 150 marks.But of a number of optional papers three papers of 200 marks each, and two additional subjects(for IAS and IFS only) out of another list of subjects each carrying 200 marks were to beoffered. The candidates who qualified in the, written examination were called for interview,which carried 300 marks. The candidates who failed to secure a minimum of 33% ofqualifying marks in the interview were declared unsuccessful, and it was abolished in 1958.The interview marks were added to the marks obtained in the written papers. After this, theCommission recommended the list of selected candidates in order of merit to the government.



The above system of recruitment in the All India Services was criticized from a numberof view points, and the UPSC decided to review the system thoroughly. For this purpose aCommittee on Recruitment and Selection Methods under the Chairmanship of Prof D.S:Kothari was appointed by the UPS Committee submitted its report in 1976 and made thefollowing recommendations.

a. To hold a Preliminary examination to screen the candidates for the Main examination;b. To hold the Main examination to select candidates for entry to the LBS National

Academy for a foundation course of about nine months;c. To hold a post-training test of 400 marks to be conducted by the UPSC on completion

of the foundation course, the purpose being to assess personal qualities and attributesrelevant to the civil services;

d. To assign candidates to a particular service on the basis of the total marks obtained inthe Main examination and the Post-Training Text at LBS Academy, taking into accountthe candidate's for the services;

e. To allow the candidates to answer all papers, except the language paper, in anylanguage listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, or in English.The Kothari Committee's recommendations regarding the examination scheme

(preliminary and main) was accepted by the government, and it was implemented by the UPSCin 1979.2.6.1. Satish Chandra Committee

The UPSC set up another Committee in 1988 under the Chairmanship of the formerUGC Chairman Satish Chandra to review and evaluate the system of selection to the higherCivil Services and to make suggestions for further improvement. The Committee submitted itsReport in I993 and the government is gradually implementing some of the recommendationswith effect from the Civil Service Examination of 1993.The main recommendations as accepted by the government are:

1. The practice of holding a common examination should continue;2. An essay paper should be introduced from 1993 examination, and the candidates should

be allowed to answer this paper in any one of the languages included in the EighthSchedule or in English;

3. The marks for the personality test should be raised from 250 marks to 300;4. From the list of optional subjects certain languages like French, German, Arabic, Pali

should be excluded;5. For both Preliminary and Main Examinations Medial Science should be included as an

optional subject;6. Allotment of services should be on the basis of the candidate's rank and preferences;7. LBS Academy of Administration should be developed into a high level professional

institution;8. Adequate infrastructural facilities and proper faculty support should be provided to the

training institutions;9. The UGC may review the scheme of conducting coaching classes for students

belonging to the minority communities to enable them to compete in variouscompetitive examinations.



2.7. Present Pattern of Civil Services ExaminationThe pattern of Civil services examination has been designed to test the academic

expertise of a candidate and that candidate's ability to present himself/herself in a systematicand coherent manner. The examination pattern intends to assess the overall intellectual traitsand understanding level of the candidates. The competitive examination comprises threesuccessive stages: (a) Civil Services (Preliminary) examination, (b) Civil Services (Main)Examination, and (c) Interview.

The preliminary Examination consists of two papers of objective type (multiple choicequestions) and carry a maximum of 400 marks: on paper on general studies having 200 marks,and another paper of 200 marks on one subject to be selected from a list of optional subjects.

The question papers are set in English and Hindi. There are nine papers of which firsttwo papers; one for Indian languages and the other for English with a maximum mark of 300each having qualifying nature. The remaining papers (seven) are having merit ranking natureand each paper has a maximum mark of 250. Interview will be given a maximum mark of 275and grant total is 2025 marks.

Qualifying Papers (Non-Ranking)

Paper A One of the Indian Language to be selected by the candidatefrom13 the languages included in the Eight Schedule to theConstitution.

300 Marks

Paper B English 300 Marks

Papers to be Counted for Merit (Ranking)

Paper I Essay 250 Marks

Paper II General Studies I (Indian Heritage and Culture, History andGeography of the World and Society)

250 Marks

Paper III General Studies II (Governance, Constitution, Polity, SocialJustice and International relations)

250 Marks

Paper IV General Studies III (Technology, Economic Development, Bio-diversity, Environment, Security and Disaster Management)

250 Marks

Paper V General Studies IV ( Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude) 250 Marks

Paper VI Optional Subject- Paper 13 250 Marks

Paper VII Optional Subject- Paper 2 250 Marks

For the optional papers in the Main Examination, UPSC has alist of about twenty-six subjects out of which any one subject hasto be selected by the candidate.

Subtotal (Written Test) 1750 Marks

Personality Test (Interview) 275 Marks

Grand Total 2025 Marks



2.7.1. Training of All India Services

Recruits to All India and Central Services are given a five months' foundational course

and then special training in the training institutions for their respective services. The idea

underlying the (foundational) course is that the higher services should acquire an

understanding of the constitutional, economic and social framework within which they have to

function as these largely determine the policies and programmes towards the framing and

execution of which they will have to make their contribution. They should, further, acquaint

themselves with the machinery of Government and the broad principles of Public

Administration. The foundational course is also intended to cover such matters as aims and

obligation of the Civil Service, and the ethics of the profession. Foundational course also

develops among recruits to different services a feeling of belongingness to common public

service and a broad common outlook. After completing this five months' foundational course

the probationers of the services other than the IAS, leave for their respective training

institutions for institutional training, but the IAS probationers stay at the Academy to undergo

a further course of institutional training.

From 1969, the Government has introduced a new pattern of training called the

sandwich course, for the Indian Administrative Service. The new entrants to IAS undergo two

spells of training at the Academy with an interval of about a year - which is utilised for

foundational course. After completion of the foundational course and spell of institutional

training at the Academy, the probationer, as he is called, is sent to the State (to which he has

been allotted) for practical training. At the end of this training, he again comes to the Academy

for a second spell of a training where emphasis is placed on the discussion of administrative

problems the probationer has either encountered or observed in the course of practical training

in the State. This part of the training is, thus, more problem-oriented. At the end of the second

spell of training at the Academy, the IAS probationer has to sit for a UPSC examination before

being given the charge of a sub-division in a district.



MODULE-III

State Administration3.1. Introduction

The very first Article of our Constitution says, "India, that is 'Bharat', shall be a Unionof states." The word 'Union' has been used to mean 'Federation' in the US Constitution. In ourConstitution, however, the Union is not a Federation of the type set up by the US Constitution.The Indian Constitution has several features of a Federation like the dual government;distribution of powers between federal and state governments, supremacy of the Constitutionand final authority of courts to interpret the Constitution. On the other hand, there are severalunitary features like a unified judicial system; integrated machinery for election, accounts andaudit; power of superintendence of union government over state government in emergenciesand to some extent even in normal times; single citizenship, etc. Due to these features, ourConstitution lays down a quasi-federal polity. Granville Austin has on the other hand calledour Federation a 'Cooperative Federalism' due to the need for close cooperation between theUnion government, and the state governments. The purpose here is not to discuss in detail thenature of Indian Federation, but to put the study of state administration in proper context. It is,therefore, enough for us to know that our Constitution envisages a two-tier structure ofgovernance - one at the Union or Central level and the other at the state level. The powers andfunctions of the Central or Union government and the state governments are specified in theConstitution. The Union and the state governments function independently in their ownspheres. Of course, there is an area of overlapping responsibility and there are certain powersof superintendence.

The Constitution has adopted a three-fold distribution of legislative powers between theUnion and the states (Article 246). Schedule VII of the Constitution enumerates the subjectsinto three lists. List I or the Union List consists of the subjects over which the Union hasexclusive power of legislation. Similarly, List I1 or the State List comprises subjects overwhich the state has exclusive powers of legislation. There is yet another List (List III) knownas the Concurrent List that comprises subjects over which both the Union and states havepowers to legislate. The residual powers are vested in the Union.3.2. State List

The State List comprises 61 items over which states have exclusive jurisdiction. Someof the important ones are - Public Order and Police, Agriculture, Forests, Fisheries, PublicHealth, Local Government, etc. These are subjects of maximum concern to the people whichcan be better dealt with at the state level. The subjects are generally under the exclusivejurisdiction of the states, but under the following circumstances, the Parliament can legislate onthese matters.

a. In national interest, Council of States by a resolution of 2/3rd of its members presentand voting may authorise the Parliament to legislate on a state subject. Suchauthorisation may be for one year at a time, but can be renewed by a fresh resolution;

b. Under a proclamation of emergency, the Parliament may legislate on a state subject;c. With the consent of two or more states, the Parliament may legislate on a state subject

with respect to the consenting states;



d. Parliament has powers to legislate with reference to any subject (including a statesubject) for the purpose of implementing treaties or international agreements andconventions; and

e. When a proclamation is issued by the President on the failure of Constitutionalmachinery in any state, he may declare that the powers of the state legislature shall beexercised by or under the authority of Parliament.

3.3. Concurrent ListThe Concurrent List comprises 47 items over which the Union and state legislatures

have concurrent jurisdiction. The important ones are: Criminal Law and Procedure, Marriage,Trusts, Civil Procedure, Insurance, Social and Economic planning, etc.

While the Union and states can legislate on any of the subjects in the Concurrent List,predominance is given to the Union Legislature. It means that in case of repugnancy betweenthe Union and a state law relating to the same subject, the former prevails. If, however, thestate law was reserved for the assent of the President and has received such assent, the statelaw may prevail notwithstanding such repugnancy, but it would still be competent for theParliament to override such state law by subsequent legislation.

Any dispute about the interpretation of the entries in the three lists is to be decided bythe Courts. Following principles have been followed in such interpretation:

a. In case of overlapping of a subject between the three lists, predominance is to ,be givento the Union Legislature;

b. Each entry is given the widest importance that its words are capable of,c. In order to determine whether a particular enactment falls under one entry or another,

its 'pith and substance' is considered.3.4. Distribution of Executive Power

In general, the distribution of executive powers follows the distribution of thelegislative powers. It means that the state government has executive powers in respect ofsubjects in the State List.

However, the executive power in respect of subjects in the Concurrent List ordinarilyremains with the state governments except in the following cases:

a. Where a law of Parliament relating to such subjects vests some executive functions inthe Uni6n, e.g., in Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.

b. Where provisions of Constitution itself vest some executive functions upon the Union,e.g., implementation of an international treaty or obligation.

Moreover, the Union has the power to give directions to the state governments in the exerciseof their executive powers in the following cases:In Normal Times, the State Governments have to ensure:

i. Compliance with Union lawsii. Exercise of executive power of the state does not interfere with the exercise of the

executive power of the Unioniii. Construction and maintenance of the means of communication of national or military

importance by the stateiv. Protection of railways in the' statev. Implementation of schemes for the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes



vi. The administration of a state is carried on in accordance with the provisions of theConstitution.

In Emergencies The state government functions under the complete control of the Union Government The President may assume to himself all or any executive powers of the state on

proclamation of failure of Constitutional machinery in a state.During a Financial Emergency

The President can give directions to the state government to observe canons of financialpropriety

The President may reduce salaries and allowances of employees Money bills and other financial bills could to be reserved for consideration of the

President.3.5. Role of Governor

Our Constitution provides for the Parliamentary form of government at the Union aswell as the state levels. The Governor is the Constitutional head of the state and acts on theadvice of the Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister. He is appointed by thePresident for a term of five years and holds office during his pleasure. He can be reappointedafter his tenure as Governor of the same state or of another state.

According to the Constitution, the Governor has many executive, legislative, judicialand emergency powers. For example, the Governor appoints the Chief Minister and on hisadvice the Council of Ministers. He makes many other appointments like those of members ofthe State Public Service Commission, Advocate General, Senior Civil Servant, etc. In fact, theentire executive work of the state is carried on in his name.

The Governor is a part of the State Legislature. He has a right of addressing andsending messages to and of summoning, proroguing the State Legislature and dissolving theLower House. All the bills passed by the Legislature have to be assented to by him beforebecoming the law. He can withhold his assent to the Bill passed by the Legislature and send itback for reconsideration. If it is again passed with or without modification, the Governor has togive his assent. He may also reserve any Bill passed by the State Legislature for the assent ofthe President. The Governor may also issue an Ordinance when the legislature is not in session.

The Governor even has the power to grant pardon, reprieve, respite, and remission ofpunishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of anyoffence against any law related to a matter to which the executive power of the state extends.

As far as the emergency powers of the Governor are concerned, whenever the Governoris satisfied that a situation has arisen in his state whereby the administration of the state cannotbe carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, he can report the fact to thePresident. On receipt of such a report, the President may assume to himself the powers of thestate government and may reserve for the Parliament the powers of the State Legislature(Article 356).3.5.1. Exercise of Discretion by the Governor

It has already been pointed out that the Governor has to exercise his powers on theadvice of the Council of Ministers. He does not, therefore, have much discretion in the exerciseof his powers as long as a stable Ministry enjoying the confidence of the Assembly is in office.



However, this is not always the case. The Governor may then be called upon to exercise hisdiscretion. It is this exercise of discretion that has made the Governor's office the mostcontroversial Constitutional office of the country.3.5.2. Appointment of Chief Ministers:

The Governor appoints the Chief Minister and on his advice the Council of Ministers.When a party with absolute majority elects a leader. The Governor has no choice but to appointhim the Chief Minister and invite him to form the government. Problems arise when nopolitical party has an absolute majority in the legislature. Here the discretion of the Governorcomes into play.3.5.3. Dismissal of a Ministry

A Chief Minister and his Ministry hold office during the pleasure of the Governor,which is not subject to any scrutiny. However, the Governor has to exercise his discretionjudiciously. There is a general feeling that the Governors have not done so.

Dissolution of the Assembly: The governor can dissolve the assembly on therecommendation of the council of ministers headed by the chief minister.3.5.4. Emergency and role of Governor

It has also been alleged that the Governors have not used their discretion judiciously inadvising the President for using his emergency powers under Article 356 of the Constitution.In 1959 itself, the Governor of Kerala reported to the President that due to failure of law andorder, the government of the state could not be carried on according to the provisions of theConstitution. The first non-Congress state government of the country was thrown out by thePresident on the basis of this report, which was severely criticised by all sections of theOpposition. In 1984, the Governors of J&K and Andhra Pradesh verified the numerical supportof the ruling (non-Congress) parties in the Assembly and hurriedly advised the dismissal of thestate governments on the ground that in the absence of stable majorities, the governments ofthese states could not be carried on according to the Constitution. In either case, the majority ofthe government was not tested on the floor of the Assembly. Moreover, in case of AndhraPradesh even the arithmetic of numbers proved to be incorrect. In these cases, there were openallegations also that the Governors had tried to reduce the state governments to a minority.3.6. The State Council of Ministers

The executive power of the state is exercised in the name of the Governor, who is theConstitutional head of the state. But, the Governor has to have a Council of Ministers with theChief Minister as its head to aid and advise him. But for a few discretionary functions, theGovernor has to act on the advice of the Council of Ministers. It means that the real executivepower is exercised by the Council of Ministers.

The Council of Ministers are appointed by the Governor on the advice of the ChiefMinister and hold Office during his pleasure. It means that a minister can also be dismissed bythe Governor on the advice of the chief minister.

On the pattern of the Union government, ministers in the state governments are of thefollowing categories:

1. Cabinet Ministers2. Ministers of State3. Deputy Ministers



4. Parliamentary SecretariesAs per the Ninety First Constitutional Amendment Act 2003, the total number .of

Ministers including the Chief Minister, in the Council of Ministers in a State shall not exceedfifteen per cent of the total number of members of the Legislative Assembly of the State,provided that number of Ministers, including the Chief Minister in a State shall not be less thantwelve. This is the first time that such an Amendment providing for the total strength ofMinisters has been enacted.3.7.1. Powers and Functions of the Council of Ministers

The Council of Ministers is the highest policy-making body of the state government. Itlays down policy in respect to all matters within the legislative and administrative competenceof the state government. The Council also reviews the implementation of the policy laid downby it and can revise any policy in view of the feedback received during implementation. Sincethe Governor has to exercise his executive powers on the advice of the Council of Ministersand all the executive power is exercised in the name of the Governor, there is no limitation onthe powers of the Council except the following:

a. The limits imposed by the Constitution and the laws passed by the Union and StateLegislature.

b. Self-imposed limits to exclude consideration of less important matters.3.8. Division of Work into Departments at the State Level

According to the doctrine of Ministerial Responsibility, the Council of Ministers iscollectively responsible to, the State Assembly. It is, however, impossible for the Council totake all the decisions collectively. During the early British period, the administration of thestate was carried on by the Governor-in-Council. At that time, most of the decisions were takencollectively, because the number of decisions to be taken was not very large. With the passageof time, the scope of governmental activity increased and the matters that came up for thedecision of the Council also proliferated. This led to the development of 'portfolio system' inwhich the Councillors were placed in charge of certain specified subjects leaving only a fewimportant matters to be placed before the whole Council. The same system has continued afterIndependence. Under our Constitution, the Governor has to make rules for the efficientconduct of business [Article 166(3)]. The state governments have framed 'Allocation ofBusiness Rules', according to which the work is divided among different ministers. Thisdivision of work can be done on the basis of functions, or on the basis of clientele, or ongeographical basis or on the basis of the combination of these factors. Very often, the divisionof work is decided on personal considerations rather than rational criteria. Most of the work inrespect of subjects allotted to a minister is disposed of by the minister. However, according tothe rules of business, some matters have to be reserved by the minister for:3.8.1. Consideration of the Chief Minister

These are called coordination cases. In these cases, the minister in charge of, aportfolio, records his recommendations and submits the file to the Chief Minister for hisorders. Rules of business give a list of such cases. The Chief Minister may also reserve somecases or classes of cases for his orders.3.8.2. Presentation before the Cabinet

These are important policy matters, which have wide repercussions. Important cases ofdisagreement between two or more ministers are also brought before the Cabinet for its



decision. A list of such cases is given in the rules of business. In addition, the Chief Ministermay require any particular case of any department to be placed before the Cabinet. A few ofthe typical Cabinet cases are given below:

i) Annual Financial Statement to be laid before the Legislature and demands forsupplementary grants

ii) Proposals affecting state finance not approved by the Finance Ministeriii) Exemption of important matters from the purview of State Public Service Commissioniv) Proposals for imposition of new taxes, etc.

3.9. The Chief MinisterThe Chief Minister performs the same functions in respect of the state government as

the Prime Minister does in respect of the Union Government. Although the real i executivepower of the state government vests in the Council of Ministers, the Chief Minister hasacquired a very special role in the exercise of this executive power. He is not the first amongequals, but is the prime mover of the executive government of the state. The Chief Minister isappointed by the Governor and holds Office during his pleasure. However, when a singlepolitical party has an absolute majority in the Assembly, the Governor has only a ceremonialrole in these matters. He has to invite the leader of the majority party to form the governmentand cannot dismiss him so long as he enjoys the confidence of the Assembly. The onlyexception probably may occur when the majority party changes its leader in the Assembly. Ofcourse, the Governor does have some discretion in these matters during periods of instabilitywhen no single party can claim an absolute majority in the Assembly.3.9.1. Powers of the Chief Minister in Relation to the Council of Ministers

The Chief Minister is the leader of the Council of Ministers. With the passage of time,the position of Chief Minister has strengthened vis-his his Council of Ministers. He has toassign portfolios among his ministers and can change such portfolios when he likes. He plays acoordinating role in the functioning of his Council of Ministers. He has to see that thedecisions of the various departments are coherent. He has to lead and defend his Council ofMinisters in the Assembly. In short, he has to ensure the collective responsibility of theCouncil of Ministers to the State Assembly. The Chief Minister sets the agenda for the Cabinetand greatly influences its decisions. He takes decisions on important matters of coordinationeven though these are allotted to individual ministers. Moreover, the Governor appoints theCouncil of Ministers on the advice of the Chief Minister and the ministers hold Office duringthe pleasure of the Governor. As a result of these provisions, the Minister, in fact, holds Officeduring the pleasure of the Chief Minister. This power of dismissing the ministers at will andthe power to change their portfolios has greatly strengthened the power of the Chief Minister inrelation to his ministers and ultimately the Council of Ministers.

It must also be realised that the power of the Chief Minister in relation to his Council ofMinisters also depends on political conditions prevailing in the state. If a cohesive party has anabsolute majority in the Assembly, the Chief Minister becomes very powerful and theministers are afraid of him. His power is further enhanced in case of a state-wide regional partyfor, in that case he is not subject to the discipline of the national leadership. The position of aChief Minister gets weakened if he heads a coalition government or a faction-ridden party. In



either case, he or she has to effect compromises to keep a balance among the coalition partnersor various factions within the party.3.9.2. Powers of the Chief Minister in Relation to the Governor

The powers of Chief Minister in relation to the Governor have not been mentionedanywhere in the Constitution. A convention was sought to be established whereby the ChiefMinister could be consulted regarding the appointment of the Governor in his state. Even thishas not been followed by the Union government in many cases. The only other power, whichcan be indirectly inferred from the Constitution is the power to exercise executive power of thestate in the appointment of the Governor. All the public appearances of the Governor and thespeeches delivered by him on such occasions have to be in accordance with policy laid downby the Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister. Similarly, the speeches of theGovernor on ceremonial occasions and the annual speech before the Assembly have to beapproved by the Cabinet.3.9.3. Powers of the Chief Minister in Relation to the Legislature

The Chief Minister is also the leader of the House. Apart from this formal position, theChief Minister provides real legislative leadership to the House in the sense that -he sets thelegislative agenda. The legislative measures are brought before the Assembly after theapproval of the Council of Ministers headed by the Chief Minister. It is true that privatemembers may also bring a Bill before the Assembly. But, that has a limited chance of success.Apart from the fact that it has ao backing of the majority party, the private members do nothave the wealth of information that is available to the government. Apart from setting up thelegislative agenda, the Chief Minister has to keep the Assembly informed about the variousactivities of the government by answering questions, making statements, intervening in thedebates, etc.3.9.4.Powers of the Chief Minister in Relation to the Executive

By virtue of being the head of the political executive, the Chief Minister controls theentire bureaucracy of the state. In this function, he is assisted by the Secretariat headed by theChief Secretary. He approves all senior appointments like those of Secretaries, Additional/Joint/Deputy Secretaries. Heads of the Departments, Chairpersons and Managing Directors ofPublic Sector Undertakings, etc. Through his Cabinet, he controls their service conditions anddisciplinary matters. He provides them leadership to ensure good performance and goodmorale. At the same time, he has to keep a watch on their performance through administrativechannels as well as through his own sources like party workers, complaints from aggrievedpersons and actual observation during tours etc.3.10. State Secretariat

No Ministry can run smoothly without the support of a Secretariat at the Union as wellas state levels. The Secretariat helps the government in policy making and execution oflegislative functions. This Unit discusses the organisation and functions, of the Statesecretariat. It explains the pattern of for its decision. A list of such cases is given in the rules ofbusiness. In addition, the Chief Minister may require any particular case of any department tobe placed before the Cabinet. A few of the typical Cabinet cases are given below:departmentalisation in the Secretariat and brings out the distinction between the secretariatdepartment and executive department.



The three components of government at the state level are: (i) the minister; (ii) thesecretary, and (iii) the executive head. (The last one in most cases is called the director,although other nomenclatures are also used to refer to the executive head). The minister andthe secretary together constitute the Secretariat, whereas the office of the executive head isdesignated as the Directorate. Literally, the term 'Secretariat' means the secretary's office. Itoriginated at a time when what we had in India was really a government run by the secretaries.After independence power was transferred to the elected representatives. The Ministry becamethe seat of authority. In the changed political situation, the term Secretariat has become asynonym for the minister's office. But because the secretary is the principal adviser to theminister, he needs to be in the physical vicinity of the minister. In effect, therefore, Secretariatrefers to the complex of buildings that houses the office of ministers and secretaries.

The Administrative Reform Commission states the State Secretariat, as the top layer ofthe state administration, is primarily meant to assist the state government in policy making andin discharging its legislative functions. It also acts "as a memory and a clearing house,preparatory to certain types of decisions and as a general supervisor of executive action".The main functions of the State Secretariat are broadly as follows:

1. Assisting the ministers in policy making, in modifying policies from time to time and indischarging their legislative responsibilities

2. Framing draft legislation, and rules and regulations3. Coordinating policies and programmes, supervising and controlling their execution, and

reviewing of the results4. Budgeting and control of expenditure5. Maintaining contact with the Government of India and other state governments; and6. Overseeing the smooth and efficient running of the administrative machinery and-

initiating measures to develop greater personnel and organisational competence.The administrative philosophy to which the secretariat system owes its existence is that policymaking must be kept separate from policy execution. Several advantages are claimed in favourof such an arrangement:

1. Freedom from operational involvement makes the policy makes the state apparatusforward looking and allows it to think in terms of overall goals of governmentrather than narrow, sectional interests of individual departments.

2. Policy making receives the time and attention it deserves. This is because, policymaking, is a serious exercise in drawing up what would be a future course of action.

3. Secretariat serves as a disinterested adviser to the minister. It is important toremember that the secretary is the secretary to the government and not to theminister concerned.

4. Policy making must be separated from current administration and day-to-dayimplementation should be left to a different agency with executive freedom, whichensures delegation of authority.

The foremost function of the secretariat is to assist policy making. It has many alliedfunctions and dimensions. First, the secretary supplies to the minister all the data andinformation needed for policy formulation. Second, the secretaries sometimes provide theprogrammes, with content by working out their details, on whose strength ministers are voted



to power. Third, the Secretariat assists ministers in their legislative work. Drafts of legislationsto be introduced in the legislature by ministers are prepared by the secretaries. Besides, toanswer questions in the Legislature, the minister needs relevant information; the secretarysupplies this information to the minister. Secretary also collects information required withrespect to the legislative committees. Fourth, the Secretariat functions as an institutionalisedmemory. This means that the emerging problems require an examination in the light ofprecedents. Records and files maintained in the Secretariat serve as an institutional memoryand ensure continuity and consistency in the disposal of cases. Fifth, the Secretariat is achannel of communication between one government and another, and between the governmentand such agencies as the Planning Commission and Finance Commission. Finally, theSecretariat evaluates and keeps track of execution of policies by the field agencies.3.10.1. Structure of the State Secretariat

Conventionally, the officers' hierarchy has had three levels. Under this, a typicaladministrative department is headed by a secretary who will have a complement of deputysecretaries and under assistant secretaries. But with growth in the functions of varioussecretariat departments, the number of levels in the officers' hierarchy has been on the increase.As a result, between the secretary and the deputy secretary, in some states, positions ofadditional and/or joint secretaries have also been created. A unique feature of the SecretariatSystem in India has been the distinction between its two component parts - "the transitorycadre of a few superior officers" and "the permanent office".

The officers in each department, because they hold tenure posts, come and go. It is theoffice, which is manned by permanent functionaries, which provides the much needed elementof continuity to the secretariat department. Unlike officers, the office constitutes the permanentelement in the secretariat system. The office component is comprised of superintendents (orsection officers), assistants, upper and lower division clerks, steno-typists and typists. Officeperforms the spadework on the basis of which the officers consider cases and make decisions.Office supplies officers with materials, which constitute the basis for decision-making.3.11. The structure of a typical department comprises:Department - SecretaryWing - Additional Joint SecretaryDivision - Deputy Secretary DirectorBranch - Under Secretary Section - Section Officer

The section is the lowest organisational unit and it is under the charge of a sectionofficer. Other functionaries in a section are assistants, upper and lower division clerks, steno-typists, typists, etc. A section is referred to as the office. Two sections constitute the branch,which is under the charge of an under-secretary. Two branches ordinarily form a division,which is headed by a deputy secretary. When the volume of work of a department is more thana secretary can manage, one or more wings are established with a joint secretary in charge ofeach wing. At the top of the organisational hierarchy is the secretary who is in charge of thedepartment3.12. Pattern of Departmentalisation in State Secretariat

Each secretary is normally in charge of more than one department. The number ofsecretariat departments would therefore be larger than the number of secretaries. The number



of secretariat departments, quite naturally, varies from state to state. Their number broadlyranges between 10 and 40 in different states. The number of departments in a particular state isnot necessarily related to its size in terms of population. For instance, a small state likeMizoram had as many as 36 secretariat departments in 1987, the corresponding figure forAndhra Pradesh (which is a much larger state), was 19 in 1982.Following is a typical example of the pattern of departmentalisation at the Secretariat Level:

General Administration Department Home Department Revenue Department Food and Agriculture Department Finance and Planning Department (Planning Wing) Finance and Planning Department (Finance Wing) Law Department irrigation and Power Department Medical and Health Department Education Department Industries Department legislature Department Panchayati Raj Department Command Area Development Department Transport, Roads and Buildings Department Housing and Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department Labour, Employment and Technical Education Department Social Welfare Department Rural Development Department Forest Department Environment Department Women and Child Welfare Department

There is a lot of criticism about the work allocation existing in the secretariatdepartments, which is: First, work allocation is lop-sided in that some departments areburdened with more work than others. Second, allocation is far from rational even in terms ofhomogeneity of work. Not only are the subjects handled by a particular department toonumerous and therefore unmanageable but these are also too heterogeneous, causing problemsof coordination. These are rather aggravated when charges of particular departments areincomplete in scope.



MODULE-IV

Local Administration

4.1. District AdministrationDistrict as a basic unit of field administration has been in existence through the ages. It

is surprising to know that it has not changed substantially since the times of Manu in hisdescription of a district in Manusmrithi where 1000 villages were grouped together to form adistrict and placed under the charge of an officer. However, the territorial structure ofadministration of India can be traced to the Mauryan era where revenue villages were called'gramas',a group of revenue villages called 'stana'(visaya or taluk), several 'stanas' called'aharas' or the District,a group of Districts called 'Pradesh' or the region/state and several'pradeshas' called the 'Janapada' or a province/country.

The head of the District Administration had both revenue as well as police functionsand is comparable to the present day District Collector. The District Collector's officesucceeded the office of Kirori/Faujdar in the Mughal period. Under the British rule and theirexperiments with the field of administration, in 1781 the district again became the unit ofadministration under the District Collector as the District head. Thus, the present day DistrictAdministration has historical roots. However, this was non transparent and was laid out forloyalty to the British rule and establish its hegemony through the length and breadth of thecountry through a strong, disciplined and supervised office of the District Collector for regularcollection of revenue.

The District in India is the cutting edge of administration. The District administration isheaded by the District Collector/Deputy Commissioner, drawn from IAS and he is responsibleamong others for the general control and direction of the police which is headed by theSuperintendent ofPolice. The District is split up into a number of sub divisions called 'Talukas'for the purpose of Administrative convenience. And to have a better supervision of the manyTaluks, there has been a grouping of the taluks,each group of taluks under a Division which isheaded by an official called 'Tehsildar'. These Tehsildars are state level officers and are calledsub divisional or revenue divisional officers. Right at the bottom of Dsitrict>Divisions>Taluksthere are the basic units which are the villages. in some states the Blocks and Taluks arecoterminous in District Administration. The District Collector through the ZIilaParishads,Blocks (PanchayatSamithis)/Taluks and Gram Panchayat administer development programmesand supervises them. However, massive non-transparency due to illiteracy among people theseofficials are often found involved in wrong doings and erratic behaviour as well as functioningas agents of the ruling state party or Union/centre's leading to revolts and outbursts from timeto time. District Collector (DC) is also known as the Deputy Commissioner in states likeKarnataka and Punjab.

Ever since the creation of this office in 1772, the District Collector's office continues tobe the administrative head of District Administration. Basically, the DC has three majorfunctions namely revenue, magisterial and developmental. Apart from these major functions, alarge number of miscellaneous functions are also entrusted to him by state and Centralgovernments like conduct of elections, dealing with calamities, supervising local govt.institutions, etc.. Collector was mainly entrusted with revenue administration, however, sinceIndependence with the considerable change in the nature of the state from police rule to



development and welfare his role to have shown a shift in the direction of development as heimplements all the development programmes. The collector has overall control of the policeadministration of a state and this he is assisted by the Superintendent of the Police who is incharge of the whole district police force. The Collector advises the government on variousaspects of law and order. Since he is a Generalist, he coordinates the activities of overalldepartments under Specialists like Engineers, doctors, etc. by holding meetings among them atperiodic intervals. He is also to be the Friend, Philosopher and Guide of the Panchayati RajInstitutions.4.2. Evolution of the office of the District Collector

The office of the District Collector in India has a long history. Its origin is related to theconcept of a territorial unit of administration. During the Mauryan period the kingdom wasdivided into convenient territorial units and each unit was placed under the charge of animperial authority. The authority who was important to the District Collector during that periodwas known as 'Raja'. Though they were essentially revenue officers, they exercised judicialfunctions also. Rajukas, collected land revenue, maintained roads, promoted trade and industryand carried out public works like irrigation. During the Gupta period they were called'visayapathis', who were Heads of 'visayas', which were equivalent to the modern districts. Thevisayapathi was responsible for the general administration including collection of taxes andother revenues. They also commanded military force to maintain law and order in the visaya.The Mughal rulers followed the system of administration of Hindu Kings. Under the Mughalsystem the 'circar', which is comparable to the modern district had three officers viz.Amalguzar, Amir Zuazi and Faujdar. The Amalguzar was a principal revenue functionary ofthe circar and was responsible for the collection of revenue and proper utilisation of land. Healso exercised certain administrative functions like punishing the robbers and some quasi-judicial functions like settlement of disputed claims on land. However, he was basicallyresponsible of the collection and management of land revenue. Though, during, Mughal periodFaujdar enjoyed a dominant position in the district administration, Amalguzar performed allrevenue functions. Thus, before the advent of the British, there were territorial divisions andofficers of these divisions were responsible for realisation of land revenue. These revenueofficials were generally invested with several power and functions. It was, no doubt,considered a feudal form of territorial organisation. The territorial gradation of administrativeareas more br less remained the same notwithstanding the changes that were brought about inthe system by the British.

The British built on the oriental system and established the present system of fieldadministration. The creation of a district as unit of administration and the appointment of theDistrict Collector as Head of District Administration laid the foundation for stableadministration in India. Granting of 'diwani' (civil administration) in Bengal, Bihar and Orissato the East India Company in 1765 marks the beginning of British revenue administration inIndia. In 1769 the Company launched a scheme of English supervision over the local revenuecollecting institutions. East India Companyappointed covenanted servants as supervisorsduring 1769-70 in the districts of the diwani provinces. The supervisors were expected toreport on the production and capacity of the lands; amount of revenues and other taxes levied;and manner of collection etc. They were expected not only to be concerned with revenuecollection but also to have an overall knowledge of all the factors that affected the district. But



the system failed and the company decided in 1772 to take over the entire executivemanagement of public revenues. Accordingly, Warren Hastigns issued a proclamation. OnMay 14th 1772 the supervisors were appointed as Collectors. Thus, the institution of Collectorwas created for the first time in 1772 during the period of Warren Hastings. From thenonwards collection of revenue became the most important duty of the company's civil servants.The office of the District Collector became an important institution of the British localadministration. They were entrusted with the executive power of management and collection ofrevenue and other duties of enquiry and investigation. From then onwards the Collector's rolehas gone through several changes that is period of strength, neglect etc. By the time Indiagained independence the District Collector had become an important functionaryheading theDistrict Administration.4.2.1. Functions of the Collector

The office of the Collector is an important institution transmitted by the British rulersto the Indian administrative system. He performs traditional revenue function as well asdevelopment functions. Throughout the country, the power and functions of the Collector,more or less, remain the same. Broadly, the Collector performs the following functions:

Head of Revenue Administration;Head of Police Administration,Head of District Administration, andAn agent of the GovernmentThe Collector started as a revenue functionary and he continues to be the principal

Revenue Officer and Head of the Revenue Administration in the district. After independence,the importance of revenue administration has become secondary. The emphasis has shifted toDevelopment Administration, though the revenue functions still remain with the DistrictCollector. Besides collection of revenue, the Collectors,' are responsible for the collection ofall other duties like takkavi loans and dues belonging to other Departments. Maintenance ofland records and collection of statistics at the village level are some other functions of theCollector. He exercises appellate jurisdiction in revenue cases. The recovery of arrears of landrevenue in I respect of all Departments is the responsibility of the Collector. In the discharge ofI his revenue functions, many officers like the Revenue Divisional Officers, Tahsildars,Revenue Inspectors and Village Officers assist the Collector.

Tahsildars, Revenue Inspectors and Village Officers assist the Collector. As the Headof the Revenue Administration, he is the kingpin of relief operations in i the district. Inemergency situation like floods and famines the Collector plays a very crucial role in reliefoperations. The Government takes decision regarding the quantum of relief and the manner ofdistribution mostly on the basis of assessment made by the Collector.4.2.2. Law and Order

District Collector also functions as District Magistrate and is responsible for themaintenance of law and order in the district. After the separation of judiciary from theexecutive, the Collector is concerned with the preventive sections of the criminal procedurecode. As District Magistrate, he is Head of the Police Administration of the district. In thisfunction, Superintendent of Police who is the Head of police force in the district helps theCollector in discharge of his police functions. In all important matters, the Superintendent ofPolice takes orders from the Collector. There have been many instances of strained



relationsbetween the Collector and the Superintendent of Police. In certain situations, lack ofunderstanding between the two affect the entire District Administration.4.2.3. Head of District Administration

The Collector continues to be the Head of the District Administration. As DistrictMagistrate, he is responsible for the maintenance of law and order. As chief revenue officer, heis responsible for the collection of revenues. He is also closely associated with several otherDepartments like Education, Industries, Cooperatives, Public Works, etc. In respect ofPanchayati Raj, in several States, he has a very important relationship with the Panchayati Rajbodies. As a Head of the district administration, he plays a coordinating role between differentDepartments like Revenue, Police and other Departments. The Collector supervises theworking of municipalities. He has power to suspend the resolutions of local bodies, if theyconstitute a threat to public peace. He also Heads a number of official and non-official bodiesin the district like the Road Transport Authority, District Employment Committee, WelfareCommittees, Red Cross Society, etc. The amount of time he spends on these activities dependson his personal interest.4.2.4. An Agent of the Government

He is looked upon as an agent of the Government at the district level. He hoists thenational flag on Independence and Republic days. He has several protocol functions likemeeting the Ministers and other important dignitaries. In emergencies like floods and famines,he can call upon any branch of the District Administration to undertake any specific work toprovide assistance to Census operations and conduct of elections to various democratic bodiesfrom the Parliament to the Gram Panchayat is another important function. The Collector is alsoan agent of the Governor in respect of scheduled tribes' areas in some of the districts. There areother functions also with which the Collector is intimately associated like social security,pensions, excise, grant of licenses for arms, etc. The scarcity and rising prices due to publicdistribution system has become an important part of district administration. He is directlyresponsible for the distribution and control of all essential commodities and goods. He issueslicenses for trading in food grains and other commodities. As Head of the distribution system,he is expected to ensure timely and equitable distribution of scarce commodities. The collectorpresides over a large number of meetings like meetings of Coordination Committee,Development Committee, Irrigation Committee etc. These are excellent forums for theCollector to know the way policies are translated into action and to come into contact with thelocal people and understand their problems.

After independence, the Collector has become responsible for the implementation ofthe development programmes in the district. As an administrator, he is expected to coordinateall the development programmes being implemented in the district. The Collector's role indevelopment administration is more visible in case of Panchayati Raj Institutions. He is closelyassociated with these institutions either from within or outside. The advent of Panchayati RajInstitutions in India has brought about several changes in the set up of the districtadministration. This is particularly so in case of the role and functions of the District Collector.Balwantrai Mehta Committee recommended that the Collector should be the Chairman ofZillaParishad. At the time of establishment of Panchayati Raj, critics argued that Collectorsshould not Head the democratic bodies, this would not be in consonance with the spirit ofdecentralisation. It would curb the democratic spirit. In practice, different types of linkages



were established between the Collector and the Panchayati Raj Institutions in different States.In Rajasthan, for example, the Collector was made an associate member of ZillaParishadwithout the right to vote. In Andhra Pradesh, he was made a full member of ZillaParishad andchairman of all the standing committees. Later, however in Andhra Pradesh, the Collector wasdisassociated from ZillaParishad. In Maharashtra, the Collector was kept out of ZillaParishad.But, generally it is felt that the Collectors should have a large share of responsibility infacilitating the success of Panchayati Raj Institutions. Over the years, four patterns of the roleof Collector, vis-a-visZillaParishad have emerged. First of all the collector is the chairman ofthe ZillaParishad.

Secondly, the Collector has been kept out of ZillaParishad completely because of afeeling that it would burden the Collector, who is already overburdened. In some States, theCollector is made Chairman of the standing committees vested with power and decision-making. Finally, in some States, the Collector is a member of ZillaParishad without right tovote.

The relationship between Collector and Panchayati Raj Institutions can be studiedunder different heads namely control over staff, power to suspend resolutions, power toremove officers, and power to suspend and dissolve Panchayati Raj Institutions. In these areas,the role of Collector varies from state and state. Some aspects of this would be discussed laterin the Unit on Panchayati Raj. The Collector has power to write confidential report and hasauthority to inflict various punishments, such power vary from state to state. Similarly, theCollector can suspend the resolutions of Panchayats. An association with these bodies willbring the Collector in intimate relationship with the people's representatives. This provides himan opportunity to understand the dynamics of Development Administration at the district level.

In practice, the role assigned to him varies from state to state as mentioned below:In Tamil Nadu he is the Chairman of District Development Council.In the States of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar he is entitled to attend the meetings of the

PanchayatSamiti and its standing committees but without a right to vote. i In Maharashtra andWest Bengal he is kept out of the ZillaParishad. In Andhra Pradesh, he is not only the memberof the ZillaParishad but also the Chairman of all the standing committees in whom executiveauthority is vested.

In the States of Assam, Punjab and Rajasthan, the Collector is a non-voting member ofthe ZillaParishad and he is associated in a purely advisory capacity. It shows that there is anunconcealed reluctance to have his involvement in the decision-making processes of ruraldemocracy.

After 73rd Constitutional Amendment, the relationship of District Collector withPanchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) has changed immensely. The Constitutional amendment andthe enactment of Panchayati Raj laws by various States in 1993 has reduced the burden of theDistrict Collector on development activities. This Act has given scope to the State Governmentto set forth the yardstick of the relationship of the PRIs and the Collector. In this context, someStates have created the post of Chief Executive Officer and some States have opted for DistrictDevelopment Officer or Deputy District Commissioner. In the States like Rajasthan, theCollector is a nominated member of the District Planning Committee (DPC). Whereas, in someother States like Madhya Pradesh the Collector is the Member and Secretary of the DPC.



Before these changes, District Collector in Madhya Pradesh had access to Rs.10 lakh fordevelopment works, which has now been hiked to Rs. 1 crore, making him more powerful.

However, in Andhra Pradesh the Collector as the Head of the District Administration.Continues to co-ordinate the development activities. In the capacity of an ex-officio member,he attends the meetings of ZillaParidshad and its standing committees, and participate in theirdiscussions. He participates and attends the meetings but without the right to vote on theresolutions. The District Collector has the authority to suspend or cancel any resolution passedby these bodies; initiate action in the event of default; suspend the Chairman (ZP), thePresident (MP) and the Sarpanch (GP) and dissolve the ZilaParishad / MandalParishad 1 GramPanchayat and any of the Standing Committees. It has been observed from the study onMaharashtra that District Collector has limited role to play in the PFUs. He has an importantrole in elections or reporting regarding resolutions, such as no confidence against officebearers.

The Administrative Reforms Commission recommended that all the developmentfunctions should be entrusted to the ZillaParishad. The Collector should only be responsiblefor regulatory functions. In the context of transfer of development functions, the Committeefelt, it would enable the Collector to devote more time and attention to his regulatory functions.This will help to improve the general administrative climate in the district. The Committee onPanchayati Raj Headed by Asoka Mehta also recommended the separation of developmentfunctions and entrusting them to the Chief Executive Officer. Thus, even after implementationof 73rd Constitutional Amendment Act, there is no uniform pattern with regard to the positionof the District Collector in relation to the Panchayati Raj Institutions.4.3. Urban Administration - 74th Constitutional Amendment and its impact

This Act has added Part IX-A to the Constitution of India. It is entitled as “TheMunicipalities’ and consists of provisions from articles 243-P to 243-ZG. In addition, the Acthas also added Twelfth Schedule to the Constitution. It contains 18 functional items ofmunicipalities and deals with Article 243-W.The Act gave constitutional status to themunicipalities. It has brought them under the purview of justiciable part of the constitution.Inother words, state governments are under constitutional obligation to adopt the new system ofmunicipalities in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

The Act aims at revitalizing and strengthening the urban governments so that theyfunction effectively as units of local government. The salient features of the Act are:4.3.1. Three Types of Municipalities:The Act provides for the constitution of the following three types of municipalities in everystate.

Nagar Panchayat (by whatever name called) for a transitional area, that is, an area intransition from a rural area to an urban area.

Municipality for a smaller urban area. Municipal Corporation for a larger urban area A transitional area, a smaller urban area or a larger urban area means such area as the

Governor may specify by public notification for this purpose with regard to thefollowing factors.Population of the areaDensity of population



Revenue generated for local administrationPercentage of employment in non-agricultural activitiesEconomic importance or such other factors as the Governor may deem fit.

4.3.2. CompositionAll the members of a municipality shall be elected directly by the people of the

municipal area. For this purpose, each municipal area shall be divided in territorialconstituencies to be known as wards.

The state legislature may provide the manner of election of the chairperson of amunicipality. It may also provide for the representation of the following persons in amunicipality.

I. Persons having special knowledge or experience in municipal administration withoutthe right to vote in the meetings of municipality.

II. The members of the LokSabha and the state legislative Assembly representingconstituencies which comprise wholly or partly the municipal area.

III. The members of the RajyaSabha and the state legislative council registered as electorswith the municipal area.

IV. The chairpersons of committees (other than wards committees).4.3.3. Ward Committees

There shall be constituted a wards committee, consisting of one or more wards, withinthe territorial area of a municipality having population of three lakhs or more.

The state legislature may make provision with respect to the composition and theterritorial area of a wards committee and the manner in which the seats in a wards committeeshall be filled. It may also make any provision for the constitution of committees in addition tothe wards committees.4.3.4. Reservation of Seats

The Act provides for the reservation of seats for the scheduled castes and the scheduledtribes in every municipality in proportion of their population to the total population in themunicipal area.Further, it provides for the reservation of not less than one-third of the totalnumber of seats for women (including the number of seats reserved for women belonging tothe SCs and the STs).The state legislature may provide for the manner of reservation of officesof chairpersons in the municipalities for the SCs, the STs and the women.

It may also make any provision for the reservation of seats in any municipality oroffices of chairpersons in municipalities in favour of backward classes.4.3.5. Duration of Municipalities

The Act provides for a five-year term of office for every municipality. However, it canbe dissolved before the completion of its term.

Further, the fresh election to constitute a municipality shall be completed (i) before theexpiry of its duration, of five years; or (ii) in case of dissolution, before the expiry of a periodof six months from the date of its dissolution.4.4. Disqualification

A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as or for being a member of amunicipality if he is so disqualified

(i) under any law for the time being in force for the purposes of elections to thelegislature of the state concerned; or (ii) under any law made by the state legislature.



However, no person shall be disqualified on the ground that he is less than 25 years ofage if he has attained the age of 21 years. Further, all questions of disqualifications shall bereferred to such authority as the state legislature determines.4.5. State Election Commission

The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls and theconduct of all elections of the municipalities shall be vested in the State Election Commission.4.5.1. Powers and functions

The state legislature may endow the municipalities with such powers and authority asmay be necessary to enable them to function as institutions of self- government.

Such a scheme may contain provisions for the devolution of powers and responsibilitiesupon municipalities at the appropriate level with respect to (i) the preparation of plans foreconomic development and social justice; (ii) the implementation of schemes for economicdevelopment and social justice as may be entrusted to them including those in relation to the18 matters listed in the Twelfth Schedule.4.6. Finance

The state legislature may (i) authorize a municipality to levy, collect and appropriatetaxes, duties, tolls and fees; (ii) assign to a municipality taxes, duties, tolls and fees levied andcollected by state government; (iii) provide for making grants-in-aid to the municipalities fromthe Consolidated Found of the state; and (iv) provide for constitution of funds for crediting allmoneys of the municipalities.4.6.1. Finance Commission

The Finance commission (which is constituted for the Panchayats) shall also, for everyfive years, review the financial position of municipalities and make recommendation to theGovernor as to:

(i) The principles which should govern:(a) The distribution between the state and the municipalities, the net proceeds of the

taxes, duties, tolls and fee levied by the state.(b) The determination of the taxes, duties, tolls and fees which may be assigned to the

municipalities.(c) The grants-in-aid to municipalities from the Consolidated Fund of the state.(ii) The measures needed to improve the financial position of the municipalities.(iii) Any other matter referred to the Finance Commission by the Governor in the

interests of sound finance of municipalities.The Governor shall place the recommendations of the Commission along with the

action taken report before the state legislature.The Central Finance Commission shall also suggest the measures needed to augment

the Consolidated Fund of a state to supplement the resources of the municipalities in the state(on the basis of the recommendations made by the Finance Commission of the state).4.7. Audit of Accounts

The state legislature may make provisions with respect to the maintenance of accountsby municipalities and the auditing of such accounts.4.8. Application of Union Territories

The President of India may direct that the provisions of this Act shall apply to anyunion territory subject to such exceptions and modifications as he may specify.



4.9. Areas Kept OutThe Act does not apply to the scheduled areas and tribal areas referred in Article 244 of

the Indian Constitution. It shall also not affect the functions and powers of the DarjeelingGorkha Hill Council of the West Bengal.4.10. District Planning Committee

Every state shall constitute at the district level, a District Planning Committee toconsolidate the plans prepared by Panchayats and municipalities in the district, and to prepare adraft development plan for the district as a whole. The state legislature may make provisionwith respect to the following points.

(i) The composition of such committees;(ii) The manner of election of members of such committees;(iii) The functions of such committees in relation to district planning; and(iv) The manner of the election of the chairpersons of such committees.The Act lies down that four-fifths of the members of a District Planning Committee

should be elected by the elected members of the district panchayat and municipalities in thedistrict from amongst themselves.

The representation of these members in the committee should be in proportion to theratio between the rural and urban populations in the district.

The chairpersons of such committees shall forward the development plan to the stategovernment.4.11. Metropolitan Committee

Every metropolitan area shall have a Metropolitan Planning Committee to prepare adraft development plan. Metropolitan area means an area having a population of 10 lakhs ormore, comprised in one or more districts and consisting of two or more municipalities orPanchayats or other contiguous areas. The state legislature may make provisions with respectto:

(i) The composition of such committees;(ii) The manner of election of members to such committees;(iii) The representation in such committees of the Central Government, state

government and other organisations;(iv) The functions of such committees in relation to planning and coordination for the

metropolitan area;(v) The manner of election of chair persons of such committees.The Act lies down that two-thirds of the members of a Metropolitan Planning

Committee should be elected by the elected members of the municipalities and chairpersons ofthe panchayats in the metropolitan area from amongst themselves.

The representation of these members in the committee should be in proportion to theratio between the population of the municipalities and the panchayats in that metropolitan area.

The chairpersons of such committees shall forward the development plan to the stategovernment.4.12. Nature of Existing laws

All the state laws relating to municipalities shall continue to be in force until the expiryof one year from the commencement of this Act.



In other words, the states have to adopt the new system of municipalities based on thisAct within the maximum period of one year from 1st June 1993, which is the date ofcommencement of this Act.

However, all municipalities existing immediately before the commencement of this Actshall continue till the expiry of their term, unless dissolved by the state legislature sooner.There are eight types of urban local governments currently existing in India:

1. Municipal Corporations.2. Municipality.3. Notified area committee.4. Town area committee.5. Cantonment board.6. Township.7. Port trust.8. Special purpose agency.

4.11. Rural administration - Local Self Government InstitutionsThe Article 40 among the Directive Principles of State Policy says that:“The state shall take steps to organize village panchayats and endow them with such

powers and authority as may be necessary to enable them to function as units of self-government.”

Later, the conceptualisation of the system of local self-government in India took placethrough the formation and effort of four important committees from the year 1957 to 1986. Itwill be helpful if we take a look at the committee and the important recommendations putforward by them.4.11.1. Balwant Raj Mehta Committee (1957)

Originally appointed by the Government of India to examine the working of two of itsearlier programs, the committee submitted its report in November 1957, in which the term‘democratic decentralization’ first appears.

The important recommendations are: Establishment of a three-tier Panchayati Raj system – gram panchayat at village

level (direct election), panchayatSamiti at the block level and ZilaParishad atthe district level (indirect election).

District Collector to be the chairman of ZilaParishad. Transfer of resources and power to these bodies to be ensured.

The existent National Development Council accepted the recommendations. However,it did not insist on a single, definite pattern to be followed in the establishment of theseinstitutions. Rather, it allowed the states to devise their own patterns, while the broadfundamentals were to be the same throughout the country.

Rajasthan (1959) adopted the system first, followed by Andhra Pradesh in the sameyear. Some states even went ahead to create four-tier systems and Nyayapanchayats, whichserved as judicial bodies.4.11.2. Ashok Mehta Committee (1977-1978)The committee was constituted by the Janata government of the time to study Panchayati Rajinstitutions. Out of a total of 132 recommendations made by it, the most important ones are:

Three-tier system to be replaced by a two-tier system.



Political parties should participate at all levels in the elections. Compulsory powers of taxation to be given to these institutions. ZilaParishad to be made responsible for planning at the state level. A minister for Panchayati Raj to be appointed by the state council of ministers. Constitutional recognition to be given to Panchayati Raj institutions.

Unfortunately, the Janata government collapsed before action could be taken on theserecommendations.4.11.3. GVK Rao Committee (1985)

1. Appointed by the Planning Commission, the committee concluded that thedevelopmental procedures were gradually being taken away from the local self-government institutions, resulting in a system comparable to ‘grass without roots’.

ZilaParishad to be given prime importance and all developmental programs at that levelto be handed to it.

Post of DDC (District Development Commissioner) to be created acting as the chiefexecutive officer of the ZilaParishad.

Regular elections to be held4.11.4. L.M. Sanghi Committee (1986)

Constituted by the Rajiv Gandhi government on ‘Revitalisation of Panchayati Rajinstitutions for Democracy and Development’, its important recommendations are:

Constitutional recognition for PRI institutions. NyayaPanchayats to be established for clusters of villages

Though the 64th Constitutional Amendment bill was introduced in the LokSabha in1989 itself, RajyaSabha opposed it. It was only during the Narasimha Rao government’s termthat the idea finally became a reality in the form of the 73rd and 74th ConstitutionalAmendment acts, 1992.4.12. Panchayati Raj System under 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts 1992

The revitalization of Panchayati Raj manifested through the 73rd ConstitutionalAmendment owes its origin to the dynamic leadership of Rajiv Gandhi. In his address to the5th Workshop on ‘Responsive Administration’ held at Coimbatore in June, 1988, he said that“If our district administration is not sufficiently responsive, the basic reason is that it is notonly sufficiently representative. With the decay of Panchayati Raj Institutions, theadministration has got isolated from the people thus dulling its sensitivity to the needs of thepeople”. With events moving at a faster pace, Panchayati Raj emerged as a major institutionalchannel of such administration.4.12.1. Initiatives towards constitutional status to local governance.

As is known, both the amendment bills (64th and 65th) could not sail through theParliament because of opposition from the RajyaSabha. Allegedly and arguably, they put localgovernance under direct control of the Centre, which was resented by the states. However,these two bills provided enough opportunity for a national debate as to whether the PRIsshould be given constitutional status. The bills also helped the members of the Parliament to gointo the details, as and when opportunity came, through more suitable amendments. By thetime the mid-term LokSabha assembled, the consensus emerged that PRIs be givenConstitutional status and suitable provisions be made so as to enable these institutions tofunction as an agent of change and development at the local level. After coming to power in



1991, the Congress Government gave top priority to the PRIs and brought out theConstitutional 72nd Amendment Bill, 1991. The Bill was passed by the Parliament on Dec22,1992 and is now known as the Constitution 73rd Amendment Act, 1992.

The institutionalisation of democratic decentralisation in the form of statutory PRIsthus opened a new chapter in the history in India and gave a new turn to the evolution of rurallocal self- government institutions. The term institutions of self-government have beeninterpreted in two ways; firstly, the constitution says that the Panchayats are institutions ofself-governance, implying that they must have autonomy and the power to govern in anexclusive area of jurisdiction. In its essential element, the 73rd Constitutional Amendmentgives Panchayat this distinct status. Therefore, it is the de facto third tier of governance.Secondly, it strengthens ‘administrative federalism’. Professor S. Guhan argues that theprovisions of 73rd Amendment strengthen administrative federalism in order to facilitate andencourage delegation of administrative and financial powers from the states to the local bodies.Their administrative powers and to discharge their responsibilities, are entirely derived fromlegislation that will have to passed by the states.4.12.2. Features of 73rd Constitutional AmendmentThe Constitution 73rd Amendment Act, 1992 came into effect from 24th April 1993. No onedisputes that it is a historic legislation. The basic question arises as to what was the basic spritbehind this legislation? Was it limited to the passing of conformity acts and endowingpanchayats with some administrative and financial powers or to make them genuineinstitutions for participatory self-government? The emphasis has been so far on the former,which has made panchayats mere implementing agencies of central and state schemes, passedon to them, with funds. The basic objective of the democratic decentralization throughreactivation of the Panchayati Raj system was to realize Gandhiji’s concept of “ Swarajya”

1. Part IX has been inserted immediately after ‘Part VIII’ of the Constitution and after the‘Tenth Schedule’ of the Constitution, ‘ Eleventh Schedule ‘ has been added (Article243G) which gives the detail list of functions to be performed by PRIs. Panchayats shallbe constituted in every state at the village, intermediate and district levels, thus bringingabout uniformity in the PR structure. However, the states having a population notexceeding 20 lakh have been given the option of not having any Panchayat at theintermediate level.

2. While the elections in respect of all the members to Panchayats at the level will be direct,the election in respect of the post of the Chairman at the intermediate and district levelwill be indirect. (In some states direct election is made; for instance Kerala) The mode ofelection of Chairman to the village level has been left to the State Government to decide.All members including the chairperson shall have the right to vote.

3. Reservation of seats for SC/STs has been provided in proportion to their population ateach level. Not less than one-third of the total membership has been reserved for women(in both reserved and general category) and these seats may be allotted by rotation todifferent constituencies in a Panchayat. Similar reservations have been made in respect ofthe office of the chairperson also.

4. A uniform term of five years has been provided for the PRIs and in the event ofdissolution or super session, election to constitute the body should be completed beforethe expiry of six months from the date of dissolution. It the remainder period is less than



six months, fresh elections may not be necessary. Panchayat constituted upon dissolutionmay continue for the remainder of the period.

5. With a view to ensuring continuity, it has been provided in the Act that all the Panchayatsexisting immediately before the commencement of this Amendment Act will continue tillthe expiry of their duration unless dissolved by a resolution to that effect passed by theState Legislatures concerned or any law relating to the panchayats which before theamendment came into force, not inconsistent with its provisions shall continue, unlessamended or repealed.

6. There shall be an Election Commission for the conduct of all elections to the panchayatsconsisting of a State Election Commissioner to be appointed by the State Government. Itshall also be in charge of superintendence, direction and control of the preparation ofelectoral rolls.

7. The State Legislature have been given the power to authorise the Panchayats to levy,collect and appropriate suitable local taxes and also provide for making grants-in-aid tothe Panchayats from the consolidated fund of the concerned state.

8. A State Finance Commission has to be constituted once in every five years to review thefinancial position of the Panchayat and to make suitable recommendations to theGovernor as to the principles which should govern the distribution between the state andthe panchayats of revenue, whether net proceeds of the taxes, duties, tolls, and feesleviable by the state or grants in aid and recommend measures to strengthen the financialposition of the panchayat bodies and deliberate on any other matter referred to it by theGovernor. The Constitution 73 rd amendment act adds a sub clause (bb) to Article 280 ofthe Constitution. According to this sub clause, the Central Finance Commission, inaddition to other stipulated duties, shall also make recommendations to the Presidentregarding the measures needed to augment the then Consolidated Fund of a State tosupplement the resources of the Panchayats in the State on the basis of therecommendations made by the Finance Commission of the State.

9. The State Legislatures should bring in necessary amendments to their Panchayat Actswithin a maximum period of one year from the Commencement of this Amendment Actso as to conform to the provision contained in the Constitution

4.13. Observations on the 73rd AmendmentThe 73rd Amendment Act, 1992, has only provided the general guidance for the

effective and efficient working of panchayat raj institutions (PRIs) in India. It has granted thePRIs Constitutional status and some sort of uniformity by making three-tier system apermanent feature; regularity, by making election an imperative after the termination of thePRIs after every five years and provision of the State Election Commission to conduct andsupervise the election; and more financial autonomy with the constitution of the State Financecommission, to outline its major contributions.

Firstly, the most debated problem till recently was giving constitutional recognition tothe PRIs. It was often observed by the scholars that the founding fathers of the Constitutiongave only lip service to democratic decentralisation by mentioning it in Article 40 of theConstitution in (Part IV) the Directive Principles of State Policy. But after the 73rdConstitutional Amendment Act, the PRIs have got constitutional legitimacy. Indian federalismhas moved a step further in that up till now there had been two tiers of governance; henceforth,



there would be three acknowledged tiers of governance. However, there is a strong body ofopinion that in order to give an air of finality to the scheme, a separate list, namely thepanchayat list could have been included in the seventh schedule, which lists subjects forlegislation into the Union, the State List and the Concurrent List.

Secondly, the present amendment does address the issue of uniformity of structureacross the country but leaves certain important matters, such as size of a panchayat at a level,to the discretion of the state governments.

Thirdly, PRIs by and large, had failed because of irregular elections and frequentsuppression and suspension. The chronic problem was rightly been taken care of by the recentamendment. However not all states have been dutiful in complying with the provisions. Courtintervention has been necessary, as for example, in the case of Orissa and Uttar Pradesh tosecure compliance (Chaudhrai, 2003). Courts also had to intervene to ensure compliance withthe reservation clause in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.

Fourthly, the Gram Sabha is an institution, which provides an opportunity to participatemeaningfully in governance, to all the people willing and capable of participating in thedevelopment process. The 73rd Constitutional Amendment makes the establishment of GramSabha mandatory. It however, leaves it to the State Governments to spell out its jurisdictionsand powers. Most state legislation assign to Gram Sabha a ceremonial, tokenistic role, e.g.,endorsing proposals, making recommendations, considering annual accounts, reviewingdevelopment plans, scrutinising completed works. Other functions entrusted to Gram Sabhainclude those like promoting harmony and unity in the village, mobilising voluntary labour andcontributions in cash or kind, rendering assistance in implementation of development schemes,and promoting programmes for adult education and family welfare (Sharma, 2004). Moreoverscepticism has been expressed regarding direct election for the village panchayat, as arguably itwould make him a ‘first among equals’ relegation other participants to a less significantposition. Besides, the presence of MPs and MLAs in local bodies might overwhelm localleaders .

Fifthly, yet another problem relating to the functioning of the local bodies has been thelove-hate relationship between the local level bureaucracies and the elected representatives ofPRIs. Due to the lack of defined roles for the two, both have had a contentious workingrelationship rather than displaying the required harmony. This has been one of the practical andthe more important reasons for the failure of PRIs. The cooperation of the bureaucracy wouldbe vital in working out the details of devolution of powers and functions, as stipulated by theact, in each case, for instance. If such cooperation were not forthcoming, implementation ofprogrammes and policies would run into roadblocks, making the ideal of local self-governancemore a chimera. If the bureaucracy continues to be unenthusiastic about local self-governance,as it has been in the past, for rationales of its own, most initiative for empowerment of localself-governance and the ideal of participatory democracy itself would be lost. Hence the chiefbut unrecognised player in the venture is the bureaucracy. Much would depend on the way itperceives this change and vouches or otherwise for it. It would help to inquire in to the“rationales” for which local government has been considered unfit to shoulder theresponsibility for development on the part of the responsible administrators and redeeming thesame. Cooperation and commitment the part of the bureaucracy would be crucial in bringing



about the desired state of affairs with respect to local governance and administration.Significantly, devolution is an executive process, which means that the statutory provisionsneed detailing in terms of administrative rules and procedures-procurement rules, reportingstructures, compensation schemes, accounting systems etc. without which the statutoryprovision is a mere skeletal framework without much substance to it.

And finally, other problems related to PRIs, during the last three decades have been thestatus of PanchayatSamitis and ZillaParishads, the inadequacy of finances and lack ofinvolvement of PRIs in rural development planning. The amendment has tried to take care ofall of these problems by bringing them into the statute book. However, certain problems havepersisted. There has been a general reluctance to concede political space to the underprivilegedin panchayats. As aforesaid, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh reportedly have not been dutiful inimplanting the reservation provision of the act. Hence, could it be claimed with any degree ofconfidence that the backward sections would be articulate and effective or rather, and morerealistically, they would get overwhelmed, as is feared, by the power elite? Would the statebureaucracy, affect a change in stance and work in cooperation with the local government? Orwould a stint with a panchayat, harm the individual career prospects of bureaucrats? Woulddevolution of powers and functions, in fact, take place in practice as it is stipulated on paper?Would increase in private and foreign stake in urban development skew the balance against theurban poor in plan priorities? These and others would be some of the pertinent questions thatwould need to be continually monitored by means of empirical research and rectified by policyin this regard, on course.

As per Palanithurai and Raghupathi, democratic decentralisation follows the new publicmanagement principle in that the intent is to improve service delivery by invoking demandthrough institutions like the District Planning Committee and the Gram Sabha andadjusting/modifying supply accordingly. There is a paradigm shift from macro to microconcerns in planning. Development paradigm suffered hitherto due to an overemphasis onmacro concerns. Democratic decentralisation would counter this tendency by encouraginginterest articulation on the part of the underprivileged, and the ‘unequally placed’ at the locallevel. Also, in view of the expansion of the market and shrinking of the state sector, democraticdecentralisation is the counterfoil, the state has attempted by enlarging the arena of ‘choice’available to the people by providing for multiple service delivery and self help options asagainst the monopoly of the state which had created a climate of corruption and inefficiency. Inthis way the state has attempted to discharge its constitutional obligations in the changeddispensation, towards the people of the country, given the imperatives/constraints ofglobalisation, liberalisation and privatisation. By institutionalising peoples’ participation inadministration, the state has created an alternate service delivery mechanism to thebureaucracy, which is set to further shrink in the coming days as liberalisation gathersmomentum. As per Chaudharai (2003), the timing of 1991 trade and industrial policy reformscoincides roughly with the initiative for democratic decentralisation. Trade and industrialpolicy reforms were initiated due to the economic crisis owing primarily to fiscal management;endemic inefficiency, corruption and waste on the part of the State bureaucracy that hadbrought things to such a state, that nothing short of a paradigm shift was called for to redeemthe situation; nothing short of a system overhaul. In 1991, consequently in the wake of a



serious balance of payments crisis, the government initiated a broad package of economicreforms, which is being followed and furthered even today, irrespective of the party in power,involving dismantling of the infamous industrial licensing regime, deregulation of domesticindustry, trade liberalisation measures, opening up of the economy to foreign direct investmentand financial sector reforms. Aim of all these measures put together is to cut on the non-performing state apparatus and instead, yield functional space to the private and the civilsociety, typified by the non- government sector in active cooperation with the state agency,who in turn would henceforth, function more as facilitators and catalysts, rather than‘monopolists’. This would give the broad framework of “reinventing government” for the sakeof good governance (Osborne and Gaebler, 1991). Though the idea of local governance reformwas conceptualised sometime later, consensus emerged soon, as the failure of the Indiandevelopmental state in terms of human development and poverty alleviation was ubiquitous.“The aim”, therefore, “was to reconfigure the structure of government”(Chaudhari, 2003).Though inertia in the old order giving way to the new is expected, reform efforts would need tobe continued to remove roadblocks, whether structural or attitudinal, as and when, any, is/areencountered. One indication all ready is the discretionary provisions; the effort obviously hasto been not to irk power centres at the sub- national level and secure consensus for democraticdecentralisation within the ‘givens’, which give to us the “ environment of constraints” inSimonian terms.

There are a few glaring limitations in the framework. The 29 subjects mentioned in the11th schedule do not give power to legislate to the local bodies, only to take decisions. TheState Finance commissions’ recommendations are not mandatory in nature. It is completely upto the State Governments to devolve/not to devolve, functions, functionaries and resources onthe local bodies as per the constitutional scheme. The 29 items are handled by differentministries and are not in the hands of the Minster of Panchayati Raj and Rural Development.Coordination and cooperation from these different ministries would be needed to secureneeded devolution, which could be brought about only by the Chief Minister. He has to feelcommitted enough to the cause of Panchayati Raj. Rules need to be evolved to guidePanchayat Raj administration that should be compiled in a handbook and circulated in theregional language for the knowledge of everybody concerned. Devolution of functions need tofollow a set process. Activities need to be mapped, requisite skills identified and developed atthe local level, with the cooperation of the bureaucracy; communications have to flowuninterrupted from the state officials to the local functionaries. Leaving things to the sweet willof the State Government would not help matters (Ministry of Rural Development Occasionalpaper 5 cited in Palanithurai and Raghupathi’s). Unfortunately however, indications fromvarious states in this regard, except a few states, which have zealously followed the ideal oflocal self-governance, like West Bengal, Karnataka and Gujarat and Maharashtra, have notbeen encouraging.



MODULE-V

Analysis of Indian Administration

5.1. Delegated LegislationThe issue of delegated legislation has been one of the most debated issues in the

domain of legal theory because of its various implications. Scholars have consistentlypresented differing and even contradicting views about delegation of power to legislate andhave thus taken different stands on the issue. While Delegated Legislation has been awidespread practice in modern times and is almost an accepted norm, there have been contraryviews. For instance Cooley has expressed a staunchly critical view of the power to delegate.He has stated that "One of the settled maxims in constitutional law is that the power conferredupon the legislature to make laws cannot be delegated by that department to any other body orauthority. Where the sovereign power of the State has located the authority, there it mustremain; and by the constitutional agency alone the laws must be made until the constitutionitself is changed. The power to whose judgment, wisdom, and patriotism this high prerogativehas been entrusted cannot relieve itself of the responsibility by choosing other agencies uponwhich the power shall be devolved, nor can it substitute the judgment, wisdom, and patriotismof any other body for those to which alone the people have seen fit to confide this sovereigntrust." Further he has also observed that "No legislative body can delegate to anotherdepartment of the government, or to any other authority, the power, either generally orspecially, to enact laws. The reason is found in the very existence of its own powers. This highprerogative has been entrusted to its own wisdom, judgment, and patriotism, and not to thoseof other persons, and it will act ultra vires if it undertakes to delegate the trust, instead ofexecuting it." While such positions do raise the questions about the propriety of delegating thepower to legislate by higher legislative bodies to the lower ones, the fact remains that this hasbeen a general practice followed in all modern democratic countries. Hence it is important tounderstand what is firstly meant by delegated legislation and then analyse its various aspects.5.2. Meaning of Delegated Legislation

Delegated legislation (also referred to as secondary legislation or subordinatelegislation or subsidiary legislation) is law made by an executive authority under powers givento them by primary legislation in order to implement and administer the requirements of thatprimary legislation. It is law made by a person or body other than the legislature but with thelegislature's authority. Often, a legislature passes statutes that set out broad outlines andprinciples, and delegates authority to an executive branch official to issue delegated legislationthat flesh out the details (substantive regulations) and provide procedures for implementing thesubstantive provisions of the statute and substantive regulations (procedural regulations).

Delegated legislation can also be changed faster than primary legislation so legislaturescan delegate issues that may need to be fine-tuned through experience. Legislation by theexecutive branch or a statutory authority or local or other body under the authority of thecompetent legislature is called Delegated legislation. It permits the bodies beneath parliamentto pass their own legislation .It is legislation made by a person or body other than Parliament.Parliament, through an Act of Parliament, can permit another person or body to make



legislation. An Act of Parliament creates the framework of a particular law and tends only tocontain an outline of the purpose of the Act.

By Parliament giving authority for legislation to be delegated it enables other personsor bodies to provide more detail to an Act of Parliament. Parliament thereby, through primarylegislation (i.e. an Act of Parliament), permit others to make law and rules through delegatedlegislation. The legislation created by delegated legislation must be made in accordance withthe purposes laid down in the Act. The function of delegated legislation is it allows theGovernment to amend a law without having to wait for a new Act of Parliament to be passed.Further, delegated legislation can be used to make technical changes to the law, such asaltering sanctions under a given statute. Also, by way of an example, a Local Authority havepower given to them under certain statutes to allow them to make delegated legislation and tomake law which suits their area.

Delegated legislation provides a very important role in the making of law as there ismore delegated legislation enacted each year than there are Acts of Parliament. In addition,delegated legislation has the same legal standing as the Act of Parliament from which it wascreated. There are several reasons why delegated legislation is important.

a. It avoids overloading the limited Parliamentary timetable as delegated legislation canbe amended and/or made without having to pass an Act through Parliament, which canbe time consuming. Changes can therefore be made to the law without the need to havea new Act of Parliament and it further avoids Parliament having to spend a lot of theirtime on technical matters, such as the clarification of a specific part of the legislation.

b. Delegated legislation allows law to be made by those who have the relevant expertknowledge. By way of illustration, a local authority can make law in accordance withwhat their locality needs as opposed to having one law across the board which may notsuit their particular area. A particular Local Authority can make a law to suit localneeds and that Local Authority will have the knowledge of what is best for the localityrather than Parliament.

c. Delegated legislation can deal with an emergency situation as it arises without havingto wait for an Act to be passed through Parliament to resolve the particular situation.

d. Delegated legislation can be used to cover a situation that Parliament had notanticipated at the time it enacted the piece of legislation, which makes it flexible andvery useful to law-making. Delegated legislation is therefore able to meet the changingneeds of society and also situations which Parliament had not anticipated when theyenacted the Act of Parliament.A portion of law-making power of the legislative is conferred or bestowed upon a

subordinate authority. Rules & regulations which are to be framed by the latter constitutes anintegral portion of the statute itself. It is within power of parliament when legislating within itslegislative few, to confer suborbital administrative & legislative powers upon some otherauthority. Subordinate legislation, is the legislation made by an authority subordinate to thesovereign authority, namely, the legislature. According to Sir John Salmond, "Subordinatelegislation is that which proceeds from any authority other than the sovereign power and is,therefore, dependent for its continued existence and validity on some superior or supremeauthority." Most of the enactments provide for the powers for making rules, regulations,



by-laws or other statutory instruments which are exercised by specified subordinate authorities.Such legislation is to be made within the framework of the powers so delegated by thelegislature and is, therefore, known as delegated legislation. Thus all law making which takesplace outside the legislature expressed as rules, regulations, bye laws, orders, schemes,directions or notifications etc. is termed as delegated legislation.5.3. History of Delegated legislation in India

The Privy Council was the highest Court for appeal from India in constitutional matterstill 1949. The question of constitutionality came before the Privy Council in the famous case ofR.Vs. Birah (1878) 3 AC 889. An Act was passed in 1869 by the Indian Legislature to removeGoro Hills from the civil and criminal jurisdiction of Bengal and vested the powers of civil andcriminal administration in an officer appointed by the Legislative Governor of Bengal. TheLegislative Governor was further authorized by section 9 of the Act to extend any provision ofthis Act with incidental changes to Khasi and Jaintia Hills. By a notification theLegislativeGovernor extended all the provisions of the Act to the districts of Khasi and JaintiaHills. One Burah was tried for murder by the commissioner of Khasi and Jaintia Hills and wassentenced to death. The Calcutta High Court declared section 9 as unconstitutional delegationof legislative power by the Indian legislature. The ground was that the Indian Legislature is adelegate of British Parliament, therefore, a delegate cannot further delegate. The Privy Councilon appeal reversed the decision of the Calcutta High Court and upheld the constitutionality ofsection 9 on the ground that it is merely a conditional legislation. The decision of the PrivyCouncil was interpreted in two different ways. (i) Indian legislature was not delegate of BritishParliament; there is no limit on the delegation of legislative functions. (ii) Since Privy Councilhas validated only conditional legislation. Therefore, delegation of legislative power is notpermissible. So, it did not become clear whether full-fledged delegated legislation was allowedor only conditional legislation was allowed.5.3.1. Federal Court

The question of constitutionality of delegation of legislative powers came before theFederal Court in JhatindraNath Gupta Vs. Province of Bihar, AIR 1949 FC 175. On this casesection 1(3) of Bihar Maintenance of public order Act, 1948 was challenged on the ground thatit authorized the provincial government to extend the life of the Act for one year withmodification as it may deem fit. The Federal Court held that the power of extension withmodification is unconstitutional delegation of legislative power because it is an essentiallegislative Act. In this manner for the first time it was held that in India legislative powerscannot be delegated. However, Fazal Ali J. in his dissenting opinion held that the delegation ofthe power of extension of the Act is unconstitutional because according to him it merelyamounted to a continuation of the Act. Later on, it is submitted that the minor view was correctand the Supreme Court upheld similar provision in another cases.5.3.2. Supreme Court

The decision in JatindraNath Case created doubts about the limits of delegation oflegislative powers. Therefore, in order to clarify the position of law for the future guidance ofthe legislature in matters of delegation of legislative function, the President of India sought theopinion of the Court under Article 143 of the Constitution on the constitutionality of three Actswhich conferred extension of area and modification power to the executive.



The Delhi Laws Act case, AIR 1951 SC 332, among them, is said to be the Bible ofdelegated legislation. Seven judges heard the case and produced separate judgments. The casewas argued from two extreme points.

Argument-1: Power of legislation carries with it the power to delegate. If the legislativedon’t abdicate itself, there can be no limitation on delegation of legislative powers.

Argument-2: As there is in the Constitution the separation of powers and delegatus nonpotestdelegare, so there is an implied prohibition against delegation of legislative powers.

The Supreme Court took the moderate view and held- Doctrine of separation of powers is not a part of the constitution. Indian Parliament is never considered an agent of anybody and therefore doctrine of

delegatus non protestdelegare has no application. Parliament cannot abdicate or efface itself by creating a legislative body. Power of delegation is ancillary to the power of legislation. The limitation upon delegation of power is that the legislature cannot part with its

essential legislative power that has been expressly vested in it by the constitution.Essential legislative power means laying down the policy of the law and enacting thatpolicy into a rule of conduct.

So, the delegation was held to be valid except with repealing and modification of legislativepower.5.4. Delegated Legislation: Position under Constitution of India

The Legislature is quite competent to delegate to other authorities. To frame the rules tocarry out the law made by it. In D. S. Gerewal v. The State of Punjab , K.N. Wanchoo, the thenjustice of the Hon'ble Supreme Court dealt in detail the powers of delegated legislation underthe Article 312 of Indian Constitution. He observed: "There is nothing in the words of Article312 which takes away the usual power of delegation, which ordinarily resides in thelegislature. The words "Parliament may by law provide" in Article 312 should not be read tomean that there is no scope for delegation in law made under Article312…." In the England,the parliament being supreme can delegated any amount of powers because there is norestriction. On the other hand in America, like India, the Congress does not possessuncontrolled and unlimited powers of delegation. In Panama Refining Co. v. Rayans, thesupreme court of the United States had held that the Congress can delegate legislative powersto the Executive subject to the condition that it lays down the policies and establishes standardswhile leaving to the administrative authorities the making of subordinate rules within theprescribed limits. 4 Art. 13 (3) Defines law and it Includes ordinance, order, byelaw, rule,regulation & notification having the force of law. In Sikkim v. Surendra Sharma (1994) 5SCC282- it is held that ‘All Laws in force’ in sub clause (k) of Art. 371 F includes subordinatelegislation. Salmond defines law as that which proceeds from any authority other than theSovereign power & is therefore, dependent for its continued existence & validity on somesuperior or supreme authority.

Reasons for Growth of DelegatedLegislation Growth of Administrative Process bulk of law comes from the

administrators.



Law making or ever widening modern welfare and service state is not possible. For thenature and quality of work required 365 days – may not be sufficient and if overburdened theparliament can’t give quality legislation. Also it is occupied with important policy matters andrarely finds time to discuss matters of details.

Filling in Details of legislation- The executive in consultation with the experts or withits own experience of local conditions can better improvise. Also legislation has become highlytechnical because of the complexities of a modern govt.

Need for flexibility:- Ordinary legislative process suffers from the limitation of lack ofexperiment. A law can be repeated by parliament itself, if it required adjustment administrativerule making is the only answer between two sessions.

Meeting Emergency Situations – it is a cushion against crisis because what if crisislegislation is needed.

When Govt. action required discretion – rule making power of administrative agenciesis needed when the government needs to have discretion to carry out the policy objectives.

Direct participation of those who are governed is mere possible in delegated legislation.5.5. Types of Delegated legislation: -a. Power to bring an Act into operation eq: on rule date on the Govt. by notification in the

Gazette. Example: on such date as the government by notification in the gazette becausegovt. has better knowledge of the practical exigencies of bringing the law into force. TheCourt cannot ask the Govt. to bring the law into force. It was held in A.K. Roy. Vs. UOIAIR 1982 SC 710 where the constitution of the Advisory Board was in question and theterm qualified to be a High Court judge changed to actual or had been a High Courtjudge. National Security Act. 1980 did not have this provision it was held by the that thecourt cannot ask the Govt. to implement.

b. Conditional Legislation: - The legislation make the law but leaves it to the executive tobring the act into operation when conditions demanding such operation are obtained.

i. To bring an act into operation.ii. To extend the application of any act in force in one territory.

iii. To extend or to except from the operation of an Act certain categories ofsubjects or territories.

5.6. Legislative Control on delegated legislationWhile in the context of increasing complexity of law-making, subordinate

legislation has become an important constituent element of legislation, it is equallyimportant to see how this process of legislation by the executive under delegated powers,can be reconciled with .the democratic principles or parliamentary control. Legislation isan inherent and inalienable right of Parliament and it has to be seen that this power is notusurped nor transgressed under the guise of what is called subordinate legislation. It cancontrol the following:1. Normal Delegation: -

a. Positive : - where the limits of delegation are clearly defined in the enabling Actb. Negative: - does not include power to do certain thing (these not allowed)

2. Exceptional Delegation: -a. Power to legislate on matters of principle (policy)



b. Power is amend Act of parliament (In re Delhi laws Acts )W.B. State Electricity Board v. DeshBandhu Gosh (1958) 3 SCC 116 it was held that

Regulation 34 of the West Bengal State Electricity Regulation which had authorized the Boardto terminate the Service of any permanent employer on three months notice or pay in lieu thereof. This hire & fire rules of regulation 34 is parallel to Henry VIII clause.

Similar position was held by the court in the case of Central Inland Water TransportCorporation Limited v. BrojoNathGanguly AIR1986SC1571 wherein rule 9 of the servicerules of the CIWTC conferred power to terminate on similar lines as in the case ofDeshBandhu Ghosh the court went on to say that No apter description of Rule 9(i) can begiven than to call it "the Henry VIII clause". It confers absolute and arbitrary power upon theCorporation and therefore invalid.5.7. Judicial Control over Delegated LegislationJudicial control over delegated legislature is exercised at the following two levels:-1. Delegation may be challenged as unconstitutional; or2. That the Statutory power has been improperly exercised.

The delegation can be challenged in the courts of law as being unconstitutional,excessive or arbitrary. The scope of permissible delegation is fairly wide. Within the widelimits, delegation is sustained it does not otherwise; infringe the provisions of the Constitution.The limitations imposed by the application of the rule of ultra vires are quite clear. If the Act ofthe Legislature under which power is delegated, is ultra vires, the power of the legislature inthe delegation can never be good.

No delegated legislation can be inconsistent with the provisions of the FundamentalRights. If the Act violates any Fundamental Rights the rules, regulations and bye-laws framedthere under cannot be better. Where the Act is good, still the rules and regulations maycontravene any Fundamental Right and have to be struck down. Besides the constitutionalattack, the delegated legislation may also be challenged as being ultra vires the powers of theadministrative body framing the rules and regulations.

The validity of the rules may be assailed as the stage in two ways:—a. That they run counter to the provisions of the Act; andb. That they have been made in excess of the authority delegated by the Legislature.

The method under these sub-heads for the application of the rule of ultra vires isdescribed as the method of substantive ultra vires. Here the substance of rules and regulationsis gone into and not the procedural requirements of the rule marking that may be prescribed inthe statute. The latter is looked into under the procedural ultra vires rule. When the Courtapplies the method of substantive ultra vires rule, it examines the contents of the rules andregulations without probing into the policy and wisdom of the subject matter. It merely sees ifthe rules and regulations in their pith and substance are within the import of the language andpolicy of the statute.

The rules obviously cannot go against the intent of statute and cannot be inconsistentwith the provisions of the Act. They are framed for giving effect to the provisions of this Actand not for nullifying their effect and they should not be in excess of the authority delegated tothe rulemaking body. Delegated legislation should not be characterised with an excessiveexercise of discretion by the authority. The rules cannot be attacked to the general plea of



unreasonableness like the bye-laws framed by a local body. Reasonableness of the rules can beexamined only when it is necessary to do so for purpose of Articles 14 and 19 of theConstitution.

The rule of procedural ultra vires provides with a very limited method of judicialcontrol of delegated legislation often there are specific saving clauses barring the jurisdictionof the courts to question the validity of rules and orders. For example, Section 16 of theDefence of India Act, 1939 lay down as follows:

“16 saving as to orders- (1) No order made in exercise of any power conferred by orunder this Act shall be called in question in any Court. (2) Where an order purports to havebeen made and signed by any power conferred by or under this Act, a Court shall, within themeaning of Indian Evidence Act, 1872, presume that such order was so made by thatauthority.”

Such provisions can only be justified—a. On the basis of special circumstances of emergency legislation, andb. On the plea of State necessity.

5.8. Control over administration5.8.1. Legislative control

The legislature exercises general power of ‘ direction, supervision and control of Publicadministration ‘ as per Willoughby. Through budgetary review and other devices ofinvestigation it keeps a check on them. The bureaucrat is shielded for his actions by theminister through the policy of ministerial responsibility to the legislature.Tools for legislative control:a) Control on delegated legislation:

Normally the legislature is entrusted with the job of making laws but in complex andstressful conditions of the modern society, the State is caught up with many things at one timeand is not able to concentrate and study a particular issue properly leads to a situation ofdelegated legislation or delegation (giving) of some of its law making powers to theadministrative authorities. However, the administrative authorities are strictly subordinate orunder the terms of the statute of the delegation and is subject to judicial review if it violated theterms of conditions of the agreement and its validity can be measured as well.

Delegated legislation has become a necessary evil as nowadays matters brought beforethe legislature to make laws are highly technical and usually the legislators do not possess suchspecialist knowledge and so lay down the general principles (basic ideas/rules) and leave thetechnical details to be sorted out to the administration to make the rules through the process ofdelegated legislation. It brings in flexibility and is immensely helpful in times of emergencies.The legislature should clearly spell out the limit of the power delegated so that there is controlmaintained. The delegation should function under the rules and regulations of the agreementmade between the legislature and them. It should be transparent and public should be allowedto participate. Judicial review is a must for the smooth and legal functioning of the delegatedlegislation.b) President’s speech:

Addressing both the Houses of Parliament before starting every new session of theparliament and also on other occasions aims to broadly and clearly read out the policies and



activities of the executive in the time immediately ahead. General discussion is then heldregarding the president’s speech and this gives an opportunity to the parliamentarians toappreciate or criticise the administration for doing or not doing their duties. President’s speechis a means to bring in the public’s voice in the parliament and not to coerce theparliamentarians as they follow the party guidelines.c) Financial control:Parliament exercises control over the finance and funds given to administration for theirvarious activities. Such as:

i. Budget discussion: Before the financial year begins there is an ‘annual financialstatement’ called the ‘Budget’ that is laid down before the houses of parliament. Afterthat the general discussion takes place on it and all doubts are sought to be cleared.Then there is a voting done to pass it and then the funds are granted. So it is not an easyprocedure to get funds.

ii. Audit Report: The CAG,an independent agency, audits all the accounts of income andexpenditure of the govt at centre as well as States and causes to lay down the samebefore the parliament as well as legislatures of different states through the president andgovernor of respective states respectively to be reviewed and hold accountable theconcerned people.

iii. Reports of the Estimates Committee and Public Accounts Committee ofParliament: The parliament appoints these committees from amongst themselvesthrough voting and consensus. The PAC scrutinises the CAG’s report and also reviewsthe financial transactions of governmental departments. Then there is an audit reportcompiled by the PAC that is presented for discussion and questioning before the House.The Estimates committee makes recommendations for improving organisation,securingeconomy and providing guidance and alternative policies and examine whether themoney is well laid out within the limits of the policy implied in the estimates in thepresentation of their estimates.

i. Other forms of Legislative Control:a. Question hour – one hour,that is 11 a.m to 12 p.m. of every parliament day is reserved

for questions where around 30-40 oral questions are asked normally and then there aresupplementary questions along with the original question that helps cross examine theminister. It helps the public attention to focus on a particular issue and avoidsministerial and bureaucratic arrogance from creeping in.

b. Half an hour, short discussions, Calling attention motion – The half an hourdiscussion is subsequent to the question hour when there is dissatisfaction regarding aparticular answer given by the concerned minister and so there is more time given toextract relevant information and ventilate public grievance, etc. Short discussions needsprior notice to the speaker and is of a matter of urgent public importance and the govt.has to reply. No voting takes place here and not more than two hours in a day can bedevoted to this. The Calling Attention Motion is a tool used for drawing the govt’sattention to a serious policy administration/implementation issue and the govt has toanswer immediately once the motion is admitted by the speaker of the house or it mayask for time to prepare the answer if thorough detailing and understanding is required.



c. Zero hour discussion: It happens after the question hour that is 12 p.m. and since 12p.m. is also called zero hour therefore it is named ‘Zero Hour’. Here upto five membersare allowed by the Speaker to raise matters of public importance under rule 377(If inthe opinion of the Speaker, any notice contains words, phrases or expressions which areargumentative, unparliamentary, ironical, irrelevant, verbose, or otherwiseinappropriate, he may, in his discretion, amend such notice before it is circulated ) ofthe rules of parliamentary procedure.

d. Adjournment debates: On intimation of an urgent matter for debate, the normalbusiness of the House is adjourned and the debate on the topic ensues.

e. No-Confidence Motion: Also called censure motion. It is raised by a member ormembers when they express a lack of confidence in the govt for any reason.If themotion is allowed by the Speaker then the debate is held and at the end of it a vote ofconfidence is sought by the govt. failing which the entire cabinet/govt. has to resignthus leading to formation of a new govt.

f. Debates on Legislation: Normal business of legislation where new laws are enacted oramendments are sought to existing laws.

I. Parliamentary Committees: Estimates and Parliament Accounts Committee we havealready discussed so now we will discuss other relevant ones:i. Committee on Assurances – It undertakes scrutiny of promises, assurances,

undertakings, etc. given by the Ministers from time to time on the House floor andreports on: to the extent that they have been implemented and whether it hasfulfilled the minimum conditions of its purpose. Thus making the Ministers wary oftheir promises and efficiently perform their duties through the administration.

ii. Committee in Subordinate Legislation – It controls and scrutinises thegovtactivities regarding administrative delegation of legislative powers.

1.9. Limitations to legislative control:So as we can see that the legislature keeps a stronghold on the govt. as well as administrationin every minute way.Now, let’s see how these are limited due to various reasons mentioned below:

1. Lack of time, staff and expertise and technical knowledge to exert effective control inthe most meaningful areas.

2. No sustained measure of control and surveillance.3. Imperial or rigid mind-set of administrators and huge public illiteracy.4. Business groups lobbying.5. Seniority instead of merit given preference for promotion of bureaucrats thus not letting

them do their work with vigour and new ideas.6. Declaration of emergency cuts their hands off.7. Govt. bills to become laws out shadow private member’s bills which are mostly for the

public cause.8. Funds are not provided many a times as the legislature lacks technical knowledge and

is not able to understand the need by the executive for excess grants.9. Parliament cannot raise money or any tax unless executive demands it but can only

increase or reduce those demands.



5.10. Executive Control over AdministrationEvery official is responsible to and under the control of his administrative superiors

who are known as Ministers in a Parliamentary Government. The minister is responsible for allwhat goes within his department. The doctrine of ministerial responsibility is a cardinalprinciple of Parliamentary system. If a mistake is made by a civil servant in a Department, TheMinister in charge of the Department is held responsible even if he knew nothing about it or hewas not consulted by the official concerned before taking the action. In India, ministers had toresign for the mistakes committed by the officials in their departments.5.11. The minister or executive exercises control over administration through thefollowing methods:1. Political Direction:

The Minister has the power of direction, control and supervision. He has full authorityto manage and direct his Department. His writ runs throughout the sections and branches of theDepartment. He lays down the policy and looks to its implementation. He issues directives tothe departmental, officials. No important decision can be taken without bringing the matter tohis notice. He may concentrate the entire authority in his hands and reduce the Secretary to acipher. He may call for any and every file and issue the direction that no action on particularkind of matters will be taken except by him. He may go round the Department in order tosupervise its working. He may issue orders to eradicate red-tapism and increase efficiency.

He may transfer the officials from one branch to another and make changes in theallocation of work. In short, the officials work under his general direction, control andsupervision. In other words, the departmental officials are directly and wholly responsible tohim.

However, it may be noted that in actual practice civil servants are not always dictatedto by the ministers, but they also lead and dictate. Being experts the civil servants exercise sub-stantial influence on the Ministers in the policy-formulation and its implementation.

it may also be noted that the extent of control of a minister over his department rests onhis political position. If the minister enjoys the full confidence of the Prime Minister and has astrong base in the party, he can deal effectively with bureaucracy. But if he is politically non-assertive his control over administration may be weak.

A strong-willed Prime Minister may reduce a minister to mere a non-entity. Thus, aminister’s control over administration depends not only on the legal or constitutional system ofthe country, but also upon his political strength.2. Budgetary System:

The budgetary system which determines the total financial and personnel resourceswhich no department may exceed gives the executive an effective means of control overadministration. The civil servant has to work within the budgetary allocation.

He cannot spend a single penny without the proper sanction from the higher authorities.The money is to be spent according to the financial rules. Proper accounts are to be maintainedwhich are subject to audit. Under an effective budgetary system, the administration is under theconstant control of the executive.3. Recruitment System:

Another important means of executive control over administration is recruitmentsystem. Generally, recruitment to civil service is placed in the hands of Public Service



Commission—an independent body. The general rules of recruitment are laid down by theGovernment. The qualifications, experience, age, etc., required for different posts aredetermined by the executive.

It has also the power to exclude certain posts from the purview of the Public ServiceCommission. To the higher posts of the civil service, the executive has a free hand. Theministers select their own secretaries and heads of departments. Thus through their appointees,they exercise full control over the administration of the department.4. Executive Legislation:

The executive exercises power of legislation which is termed ‘Delegated Legislation’.The Legislature passes an Act in a skeleton form and empowers the executive to fill in thedetails. The rules framed by the executive have the force of law.

The scope of administrative law making is very wide in the modern social welfarestates. These administrative rules determine the authority of the different officials in thedepartment.

The executive control on administration is constant and continuous. According to ProfNigro, “Executive controls are most important for their positive development and enforcementof standards and safeguards in the actual operation of substantive departments”. They give apositive and continuous guidance to the administration. They keep the administration alwaysalert.

Executive controls are not negative or coercive but positive and corrective, Prof Nigrosays, “The closest most influential form of control is in my judgment that of executiveagencies of the auxiliary type. I must risk the heretical statement that a good budget staff and agood personnel office will do more to preserve the liberties of the people than a good court,because they will be in operation long before a potential wrong is done.”5.12. Parliamentary Control over Public Administration:

In all systems, parliamentary or presidential, control of the administration by thelegislature is important. In a parliamentary system, such as in India or Great Britain, it is ofprimary importance because all state activities emanate from the legislature. The cardinalprinciple of parliamentary system is the responsibility of the executive to the legislature. Theexecutive therefore cannot afford to be irresponsible. It has to be responsible for each andevery act of its civil servants. The responsibility of administration is thus indirect because it isenforced through the executive. The official cannot be called to the floor of the House toexplain his act. It is the Minister who shoulders the responsibility for the administrative acts ofhis department. If he is unable to satisfy Parliament, he has to quit office. Sometimes, theentire ministry may have to quit the office because ministerial responsibility in a parliamentarysystem is collective. Thus we find that the legislature’s control on administration is indirect,i.e., through the executive.5.11. Judicial Control over Administration

Public administration exercises a large volume of power to meet the citizens need inmodern democratic welfare state. Today administration is not concerned with only pureadministrative function but also involved with a large number of quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial functions. In this respect they have a number of chances to become arbitrary or masterof the citizens. So it is very necessary to control them. By judicial control is meant the power



ofthe courts to examine the Legality of the officials act and thereby to safeguard thefundamental and other essential rights of the citizens. The underlying object of judicial reviewis to ensure that the authority does not abuse its power and the individual receives just and fairtreatment and not to ensure that the authority reaches a conclusion, which is correct in the eyeof law. It comprises the power of a court to hold unconstitutional and unenforceable any law ororder based upon such law or any other action by a public authority which is inconsistent or inconflict with the basic law of the land. The role of judiciary in protecting the citizens againstthe excesses of officials has become all the more important with the increase in the powers anddiscretion of the public officials in the modern welfare states. But the courts cannot interfere inthe administrative activities of their own accord.

They can intervene only when they are invited to do so by any person who feels thathis rights have been abrogated or are likely to be abrogated as a result of some action of thepublic official. Secondly, the courts cannotinterfere in each and every administrative act, as toomuch of Judicial action may make the official too much conscious and very little of it maymake them negligent of the rights of citizens.

Generally judicial intervention in administrative activities is confined to the followingcases:a) Lack of Jurisdiction:

If any public official or administrative agency acts without or beyond his or herauthority or jurisdiction the courts can declare such acts as ultra-virus. For instance, accordingto administrative rules and procedures, in all organizations, the competent authorityis identified for taking decisions and actions. If any authority or person other than thecompetent authority takes action, the court’s intervention can be sought under the provisions oflack of jurisdiction.a. Error of Law:

This category of cases arises when the official misconstrues the law and imposes upon thecitizen obligations, which are absent in law. This is called misfeasance in legal terminology.The courts are empowered to set right such cases.b. Error of Fact:

This category of cases is a result of error in discovering cases and actions taken on basis ofwrong assumptions. Any citizen adversely affected by error of judgment of public official canapproach courts for redressalc. Error of Procedure:

“Due procedure” is the basis of governmental action in a democracy. Responsible governmentmeans a government by procedure. Procedure in administration ensuresaccountability, openness and justice. Public officials must act in accordance with the procedurelaid down by law in the performance of the administrative activities. If the prescribedprocedure is not followed the intervention of the courts can be sought and legalityof administrative actions can be questioned.d. Abuse of authority:

If a public official exercises his or her authority vindictively to harm a person or useauthority for personal gain, court’s intervention can be sought. In legal terms, it is calledmalfeasance. The courts can intervene to correct the malfeasance of administrative acts.



5.12. Forms of Judicial control over public AdministrationJudicial Review

The judicial review implies the power of the courts to examine the legality andconstitutionality of administrative acts of officials and also the executive orders and thelegislative enactments. This is very important method of judicial control The statutes madeby Parliament and State Assemblies itself provide that in a particular type of administrativeaction,’ the aggrieved party will have a right of appeal to the courts or to a higheradministrative tribunal. Sometimes, legislative enactment itself may provide forjudicial intervention in certain matters. Statutory Appeals The statutes made by Parliament andState Assemblies itself provide that in a particular type of administrative action the aggrievedparty will have a right of appeal to the courts or to a higher administrative tribunal. Sometimes,legislative enactment itself may provide for judicial intervention in certain matters. The State isliable for the tortuous acts of its officials in respect of the non-sovereign functions only.Criminal and Civil Suits against Public Officials

In India civil proceedings can be instituted against a public official for anything done inhis official capacity after giving two months’ notice. When criminal proceedings are to beinstituted against an official for the acts done in his official capacity, previous sanctions of theHead of the State i.e., the President or the Governor is required. Some functionaries like thePresident and the Governor are immune from legal proceedings even in respect of theirpersonal acts. Ministers, however, do not enjoy such immunity.5.13. Extraordinary Remedies- the writs in indian constitution

Apart from the methods of judicial control already discussed, there are theextraordinary remedies in the nature of writs of Habeas Corpus, Mandamus, Prohibition,Certiorari and Quo Waranto. These are called extraordinary remedies because the courtsgrant these writs except the writ of Habeas Corpus, in their discretion andas a matter of rightand that too when no other adequate remedy is available. A writ is an order of the courtenforcing compliance on the part of those against whom the writ is issued. In India these writsare available under the provisions of the Constitution. While the Supreme Court is empoweredto issue these writs or orders ordirectives only for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights, theHigh Courts are empowered to issuethese writs not only for the enforcement of FundamentalRights but also for other rights. We will discuss these writs now.Habeas Corpus:

Habeas Corpus literally means to have the body of. This writ is an order issued by thecourt against a person who has detained another to produce the latter before the court andsubmit to its orders. If it is found that the person in unlawfully or illegally detained, he will beset free.Mandamus:

Mandamus literally means command. If a public official fails to perform an act whichis a part of his public duty and thereby violates the right of an individual, he /she will becommanded to perform the act through this writ.Prohibition:

It is a judicial writ issued by a superior court to an inferior court, preventing it fromusurping jurisdiction, which is not vested with it. While Mandamus commands activity,



Prohibition commands inactivity. This writ can be issued only against judicial orquasijudicial authorities to prevent exercise of excess of jurisdiction by a subordinate court. Assuch, its significance as a method of judicial control over administration is limited.Certiorari:

While Prohibition is preventive; Certiorari is both preventive and curative. It is a writissued by a superior court for transferring the records of proceedings of a case from an inferiorcourt or quasijudicial authority to the superior court for determining the legality of theproceedings.Quo Waranto:

Literally, Quo Waranto means ‘on what authority’. When any person acts in a ‘publicoffice’ in which he/she is notentitled to act, the court by the issue of this writ, will enquire intothe legality of the claim of the person to that office. If the said claim is not well founded, he orshe will be ousted from that office. It is, thus, a powerful instrument against the usurpationofpublic offices’.5.14. Limitations of judicial control over administrationThe effectiveness of judicial control over administration is limited by many factors. Some ofthese limitations are:1. Unmanageable volume of work: the judiciary is not able to cope up with the volume ofwork. In a year the courts are able to deal with only a fraction of cases brought before it.Thousands of cases have been pending in Supreme Court, High Courts and Lower Courts foryears together for want of time. There is an increase in the cases of litigation withouta commensurate expansion of judicial mechanism. This excessive delay in the delivery ofjustice discourages many to approach the court. The feeling of helplessness results in denial ofjustice to many.2. Post-mortem nature of judicial control: In most of the cases the judicial interventioncomes only after enough damage is done by the administrative actions. Even if the courts setright the wrong done, there is no mechanism to redress the trouble the citizen has undergone inthe process.3. Prohibitive Costs: The judicial process is costly and only rich can afford it. There is sometruth in the criticism of pro-rich bias of judicial system in India. As a result, only rich are ableto seek the protection of courts from the administrative abuses. The poor are, in most cases,the helpless victims of the administrative arbitrariness and judicial inaction.4. Cumbersome procedure: Many legal procedures are beyond the comprehension ofcommon man. The procedural tyranny frightens many from approaching the courts. Eventhough the procedures have a positive dimension of ensuring fair play, too much of it negatesthe whole process.5. Statutory limitations: the courts may be statutorily prevented from exercising jurisdictionin certain spheres. There are several administrative acts, which cannot be reviewed by courts.6. Specialized nature of administrative actions: The highly technical nature of someadministrative actions act as a further limitation on judicial control. The judges, who are onlylegal experts, may not be able to sufficiently appreciate the technical implications ofadministrative actions. As a result, their judgments may not be authentic.7. Lack of awareness: In developing societies, most of the people who are poor and illiterate



are not aware of judicial remedies and the role of the courts. As a result they may not evenapproach the court to redress their grievances. The courts which can intervene only when it issought may be helpless in this situation. The general deprivation of people also results indeprivation of justice to them.8. Erosion of autonomy of judiciary: There is executive interference in the working ofjudiciary. The quality of judiciary mostly depends on the quality of the judges. The LawCommission made many recommendations to ensure the judicial standards of the bench. Thesuggestion to create Judicial Commission with responsibility for judicial appointmentsdeserves serious consideration. In recent years, there are many allegations of corruption againstjudges. This undermines the prestige and the effectiveness of the judiciary.5.14. Administrative Tribunals in India

Administrative tribunals are particularly associated with the administration and their

decision are administrative. But it is not significantly true but it is true to the extent of their

concern with schemes in which the administration has an interest. Further, it is found in the

majority of the cases that decisions of the administrative tribunals are more judicial in nature as

there is a demand to apply rules impartially without leaning towards their executive polity.

There is no specific definition for “Administrative Tribunals” in the Constitution of India.However, Articles 227 and 136 of the Constitution o India provide only the word ‘’tribunal”and nothing more. As there is no precise or scientific form of definition for tribunal, we should

divest our concentration on the Supreme Court for its views regarding the tribunals by

referring to certain case laws.

In Durga Shankar Mehtha v/s RaghurajSingh ,the Supreme Court expressed that

‘Tribunal’ as used in Article 136 does not mean the same thing as ‘court’ but includes withinits ambit, all adjudicating bodies provided they are constituted by the state and invested with

judicial as distinguished from administrative or executive functions. In Bharat Bank Ltd. v/s

Employees, the Supreme Court observed that though tribunals are clad in many of the

trappings of court and though they exercise quasi-judicial functions, they are not full-fledged

court. In Associated cement companies Ltd. v/s P.N. Sharma17, the Supreme concluded about

the tribunal as that it is an adjudicating body which decides controversies between the parties

and exercises judicial powers as distinguished from purely administrative functions and the

possesses some of the trappings of a court, but not all.

However, there is basis test within Article 136 or 226 for tribunals that

a. It is an adjudicating authority other than the court

b. The power of adjudicating must be derived from a statute or a statutory rule.

c. The power of adjudicating must not be derived from an agreement between the parties.

Characteristics of Administrative Tribunals

The following are the characteristic of an administrative tribunal:

1. An Administrative tribunal has statutory origin as it is creature of statute;

2. It has the get –up of a court with having a some of the trapping of a court but not all;

3. It performs quasi-judicial functions as it is entrusted with judicial powers of the State

which is distinguished from pure administrative or executive functions;



4. It is a self-styled entity within the ambit of the Act regarding rigid procedures. It meansit is not bound by the strict rules which should be followed by the court i.e. rules ofevidence;

5. In some aspects of procedural matters such as to summon witnesses, to administer oath,to compel production of documents etc. it has possessed power as of the court;

6. Tough the discretion is conferred on them, it is to be exercised objectively andjudicially. It means that most of its decision is recorded the finding of facts objectivelyand apply the law without regard to executive policy;

7. It is confined exclusively to resolve the disputes/cases in which government is a partybut often it moves to decide the disputes between two private parties for exampleElection tribunal, Rent Control Board;

8. It enjoys independent states free from any administrative interference in the dischargeof their judicial or quasi-judicial functions;

9. The prerogative writs of certiorari and prohibition are available against the decisions ofadministrative tribunals.

10. Hence tribunal cannot dispose the matters as final arbitrator;11. Once the issues settled by the High Court cannot be entertained by the administrative

tribunal;12. It is perpetual in nature and tribunal have been established specially to deal with a

particular type of case or with a number of closely related types of cases.Importance of Administrative Tribunal

The reasons why parliament increasingly confers powers of adjudication on specialtribunals rather than on the ordinary courts may be stated positively as showing the greatersuitability of such tribunals, or negatively as showing the inadequacy of the ordinary courts forthe particular kind of work that has to be done . The growth of administrative decision makingwas the need to explore new public law standards based on moral and social principles awayfrom the highly individualistic norms developed by the courts. Realizing their limitation, theSupreme Court once said that leaving such technical matters to the decision of the court is likegiving surgery to a barber and medicine to an astrologer. An even more important practicalreason for the growth of tribunals was the desire to provide a system of adjudication, whichwas informal, cheap and rapid. Litigation before a court of law is not only time consuming butis a luxury for the rich man.

The reasons why parliament increasingly creates tribunals may be the ordinary courtsare already overburdened with work, their procedures is technical and costs are prohibitive andquestions arising out of a social or industrial legislation are better decided by persons who havean intimate and specialized knowledge of the working of that Act. Hence for a government,this has taken on ambitious and massive plans of public health, education, planning, socialsecurity, transport, agriculture, industrialization, national assistance. It is impossible to carryout these programs and determine legal questions involved therein with the assistance of thelaw courts because of their highly individualistic and ritualistic approach.

No intensive form of government can function without a decision making system of itsown. Therefore, administrative decision making through administrative tribunals is inevitableand essential. The Administrative Tribunal can adjudicate on the matters: levy, assessment,



collection and enforcement of any tax; foreign exchange, import and export across customsfrontiers; industrial and labour disputes; land reforms by way of acquisition by the State of anyestate as defined in Article 31A or of any rights therein or the extinguishment or modificationof any such rights or by way of ceiling on agricultural land or in any other way; ceiling onurban property; elections to either House of Parliament or the House or either House of theLegislature of a State, but excluding the matters referred to in Article 329 and Article 329A;production, procurement, supply and distribution of foodstuffs (including edible oilseeds andoils) and such other goods as the President may, by public notification, declare to be essentialgoods for the purpose of this article and control of prices of such goods; any matter incidentalto any of the above specified matter.

Objectives of the administrative tribunalsAdministrative tribunals constituted with few objectives:

To provide for a forum to deal exclusively with service matters which off loaded theburden of the cases of High Court from their jurisdiction;

To provide inexpensive and speedy relief to government servants in service matters; To provide special powers to the tribunals to make their own special powers and

procedures and not be guided by the Civil Procedure Code or the Law of Evidence but towork according to rules of natural justice.

As far as creation of tribunals is concerned constitution is silent. No express provisionin the Constitution, as it stood originally, provides for the establishment of tribunals. However,Articles 262(2) and 263(1) are important in this regard. Article 262(2) provides for the creationof tribunal to adjudicate the disputes relating to water of interstate rivers or valleys. Article 263(1) provides for creation of council charged with the duty of inquiry into the disputes betweenstates. Apart from these two Articles, the creation of tribunals is implied in the Articles 136,226 and 227 of the Constitution as the term ‘tribunal’ is used in these Articles. However, fortysecond Constitutional Amendment expressed the provision for the creation of tribunals. ThisAmendment opened the possibility for the proliferation of the tribunals system in the country.Article 323A empowers the parliament to establish service tribunals, which will deal with theservice matters i.e., recruitment, conditions of service of persons appointed to public servicesand posts in connection with the affairs of the Union or any State or any local or otherauthority in India or under the control or owned by the government and Article 323Bempowers the appropriate legislature to provide the law, for adjudication or trial by tribunals ofany disputes and offences with respect to several matters. Further the Article 323B is wideamplitude and it provides that tribunals may try certain criminal offences also.

In 1985, Parliament passed the Administrative Tribunals Act in pursuant of Article 323A of the Constitution. And under Article 323B parliament and state legislatures are passing lawfrom time to time which provided for the creation of tribunals.

The work assigned to the tribunal is very complex in nature. It requires qualified andexperienced members to the adjudication of the subject matters. Hence the chairman mustcome from judiciary with an experience of adjudication to his credit. He must be legallyqualified person because he only can apply statute law or case law to complex situations othermembers of the tribunal shall have the sound professional knowledge and practical experience



of the service matters. So they are to be senior executive officers who are men of character,integrity and having best ability.

Each tribunal shall consist of chairman, Vice chairman and judicial and administrativemembers in such number as the appropriate government may deem fit. The qualifications arefixed by the President of India after consulting Chief Justice of India and for their members’consultation with the Government of the concerned State i.e. in case of State AdministrativeTribunal or joint Administrative Tribunal will be made. The chairman of tribunal has beengiven the exclusive power to constitute bench. He may transfer the vice chairman or othermember from one bench to another. He can constitute a bench composed of more than twomembers and also single member bench. Tribunal is not a substitute for High Court. Thetribunals empowered to adjudicate disputes and entertain complaints with respect to servicematters. All other courts except Supreme Court are barred to entertain these cases. Therefore,tribunals do enjoy the same status or are at par with High Court. But a tribunal will not havepower to issue writ as power is not given to them. The Supreme Court in S.P. SampathKumar’s case declared that the tribunal is the substitute of High Court and is entitled toexercise the power thereof. The position emerges that the High Court and tribunals are notrival institutions. The tribunals are apart of the jurisdiction of High Court i.e., relating toservice matters an appeal cannot lay within the High Court against the order or judgment andas a matter of right before the Supreme Court. But Supreme Court can entertain appeal in theexercise of its extra ordinary jurisdiction under Article 136. Hence, the tribunal’s decision ismade appealable within the tribunal itself before a large bench as an ordinary employee cannotbe accepted to afford the cost of litigation in the Supreme Court, which may sometimes resultin the denial of his right to seek justice. But in L. Chandrakumar v/s Union of India case, theSupreme Court reversed its earlier judgment and ruled that power of judiciary vested in theSupreme Court and High courts is constituted part of the basic structure of the constitution andcould not be taken away. Now the tribunals are allowed to function as courts of first instancesubject to the jurisdiction of High Courts. This downgraded the role of tribunals from thesubstantial role to supplemental role. There is a condition to invoke tribunals to a civil servantthat he should have availed to him under the service rules and he should have locus standi inthe subject matter. The Government of India has framed rules for filing an application beforeAdministrative Tribunal that it shall be presented in Form 1 by the applicant in person or by anagent or by a duly authorized advocate to the Registrar or another officer authorized by theRegistrar to receive the applications or sent by registered post with acknowledgement onlyaddressed to the Registrar. After the application has been filed, the Registrar or the officerauthorized by Registrar shall endorse the date on which it is presented for deemed to have beenpresented and sign the endorsement. In the scrutiny, any irregularity is found in the applicationthe Registrar may allow the parties to remove in presence. Otherwise he may refuse to registersuch application with reasons recorded in writing an appeal against the order of Registrar willbe filed within fifteen days of such order. Tribunal empowers to regulate its own procedureincluding fixing of places and times of its enquiry and deciding whether to sit in public orprivate place. The tribunal can admit evidence, in lieu of any originals document, a copyattested by a gazette of officer. It can avoid oral evidence and evidence on affidavits.



No evidence will be taken in the absence of both the parties and hearing will commence whenboth the parties present.

The person who is aggrieved by an order of the government or its agencies canapproach the tribunal within a period of one year from the date on which the delinquent officialwas penalized and this representation has to be disposed of within the period of six months.However, delay can be condoned by the tribunal if it is satisfied with sufficient cause. Thetribunal shall follow the principles of natural justice. It is empowered to review its owndecision and may reject the application of review if it is satisfied that there is no sufficientground for it such rejected application of review is not appealable. It excludes the jurisdictionof other courts but subject to the writ jurisdiction of High Court and Jurisdiction of SupremeCourt under Article 136. The grounds for Supreme Court to interfere with the findings are:

The tribunal has acted in excess of jurisdiction or has failed to exercise apparentjurisdiction.

a. It has acted illegallyb. There is an error of lawc. The order of it is erroneous or has approached the question in a manner liable to result

in injustice.d. It has acted against the principles of natural justice.e. No civil servant is to be dismissed or removed without a departmental enquiry.

The tribunal has the power of judicial review for the validity of such disciplinaryproceeding but power is limited as it cannot change the decision. However, the Supreme Courtunder equitable jurisdiction under Article 136 enjoys the power to change such decision oropinion of the disciplinary proceedings. For the proper implementation of welfare schemes thetribunals were found to be essential and inevitable. Thus, the tribunal system cannot beinconsistent with rule of law in fact they have become the agencies for ensuring rule of law.

Before excluding the power of the High Courts under Articles 226 and 227 overadministrative tribunals, a direct access is in fact not provided under Article 136, because theSupreme Court will grant special leave only in special cases. The result is that of the closure ofthe doors of judiciary in certain matters.

The Administrative Tribunals system is surely effective and useful. But it is hardly asubstitute for administrative reform, which continues to be pressing need of our developingcountry. Nor is the Administrative Tribunal intended to replace or supplant the regulargovernmental system of the country. The Union Public Service Commission must continue todo its work and the departmental promotion committees must continue to meet. TheAdministrative Tribunal does not and is not intended to interfere, even in the slightest way, inthe functioning of the executive. It is only when a complaint is filed that tribunal activatesitself and begins moving.



MODULE-VI

Challenges to the Indian administration

6.1. Administrative culture in IndiaThe seeds of the term “Administrative Culture” were sown in 1963 when Gabriel

Almond and Sydney Verba published their path-breaking work, “The Civic Culture”. Culturerefers to norms, attitudes, values, perceptions, interpretation and behaviour of an individual.Similarly, administrative culture comprises values, beliefs, attitudes, etc., concerningadministrative action and behaviour. It connotes the mode and style of functioning of officials.Administration is culture-bound. It is shaped by the setting or the environment in which itoperates. It develops specific features in different environments. A study of structures andfunctions of Public Administration in different countries reveals that there exists similarity informal organizations but their informal and behavioural patterns possess considerablediversities. On account of these diversities, Fred W. Riggs classified social structures into threetypes viz., fused, prismatic and diffracted and outlined specific features of administration ineach of these categories. In his analysis of prismatic society, the major focus is upon theimpact of environment on administrative structures.

In India public service is generally viewed as a high and a noble calling. It is service inthe cause of the nation and there can be no service higher than that of the sovereign state.People who join it do not anticipate becoming rich and famous, but majority of them feel abasic commitment to the values of public service; others develop such a commitment afterworking in the government for some time. No administrator functions in a vacuum. As one isinfluenced heavily by the current cultural milieu: i.e. values, belief and attitude prevalent insociety, as well as the culture unique to the organization. Culture basically represents a patternof values and behaviour, where response pattern persists over a period of time and getsinstitutionalized. Due to these patterns there are different Agrarian, Industrial and Transitiasocieties with sala model bureaucracies.

The administrative culture of India, as well as of many other Third World nations, hasdrawn on two basic foundations: (a) the colonial heritage, and (b) the traditional influences.8these two have greatly shaped the character of the prevailing administrative culture of thesecountries. The administrative culture is a product of three factors viz., the administrativepersonality, time and situation.

The administrative culture of a country is largely connected with the following factors.6.2. Administration and Political Environment

Administration is most immediately influenced by the political system. The nature ofpolitical system determines the nature of administrative system. For example, during Britishregime, Indian political system was centralized, exploitative, repressive and authoritarian.Therefore, administration too, was of that kind. But after independence political systembecame decentralized, democratic, developmental, people and welfare-oriented. Therefore,administration also became like that. Thus, political system impacts administrative system.Similarly, administration also impacts political system. It helps formulate governmentalprogrammes and policies. The administrators provide different types of data, information,expertise, suggestions, feedback etc., to the ministers on the basis of which realistic



programmes and policies are formulated by them. Thus, administration and political systemimpact each other.6.3. Administration and Economic Environment

Administration is influenced by the economic set-up . For example, in a country withlimited economic resources administrators are not in a position to implement governmentalprogrammes and policies successfully. But administration of a developed country cansuccessfully implement programmes and policies because of abundance of resources. Further,in a country with closed economy the scope of administration will be more whereas in an openeconomy administration will have less scope as here private parties are the key players. Thus,economic environment impacts administration.

Similarly, administration can also influence economy by contributing to theformulation of various economic programmes and policies. Further, if administration isefficient and effective, development and growth will take place and thus, overall economy willbe impacted positively. Thus, administration and economy affect each other.6.4. Administration and Socio-Cultural Environment

Socio-cultural environment affects the administration. There exists casteism, nepotism,favouritism, corruption and other ills in the society. Hence, these ailments are also found inadministrators. It is mainly because of the fact that the administrators have to operate in thesociety. Therefore, they get affected with all these social maladies. Similarly, administrationcan also influence social environment by contributing to the formulation of policies formitigating social evils. Thus, administration and social environment impact each other. Thepreceding discussion makes it amply clear that the administration is influenced by theenvironment in which it operates and in turn, it also influences the environment. That is to say,there exists a two-way relationship between administration and its ecology. Administrativeculture, thus, must be compatible with its environment. It is, therefore, unrealistic to endorseand perpetuate the administrative culture operative during the period of the British Rule inIndependent India. In other words, administrative culture is not static. Just as culture itself isnot unchanging, administrative culture too, keeps on changing. The object or target ofadministrative culture is public bureaucracy. Bureaucracy is a cohesive, well-organised andcompact group with a network of continuing interactions. It is an instrument or weapon of thegovernment to operationalize programmes and policies meant for all-round development of thecountry. In the wake of the process of decolonization, Third World Countries (TWCs) emergedon political map of the world. These nascent countries including India were confronting a lotof socio-economic problems such as hunger, poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, inequalities,etc. The major responsibility for mitigating these problems rested on the shoulders ofbureaucracy. Therefore, it amassed huge powers. But in course of exercise of comprehensivepowers bureaucracy started disregarding people’s interests.

It became omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient. It became part of a system aptlytermed as “New Despotism” by Justice Hewart. In short, it became a victim of variousadministrative ills some of which can be discussed as follows.

a. Unresponsiveness: Bureaucracy remains unresponsive to popular demands, desires andaspirations. It tends to regard itself as the self-appointed guardian and interpreter ofpublic interests. Its members feel that they are doing a favour by providing a service to



them, even though they are paid from public exchequer to do so. The experience overthe years shows that it has behaved more as a ruling class than a serving one as it isclear from its very functioning in India which is, by and large, aristocratic,authoritarian, arrogant and oppressive.

b. Red Tapism: It refers to undue formalism. It puts too much emphasis on “Procedurethrough proper channel” and precedents. Left to itself, it tends to multiply the red tapetill it almost smothers itself. Bureaucracy seems to forget that the community does notexist for the purpose of filling up forms or obeying regulations, but that forms andregulations exist for the service of the community.

c. Self-Perpetuating : Bureaucracy has become a victim of Parkinson’s Law or the RisingPyramid of bureaucrats. Parkinson’s Law refers to a situation wherein staff in anorganization outnumbers the volume of work. In other words, bureaucracy is self-perpetuating in the sense that the civil servants have a tendency to increase day by dayin number, irrespective of workload. The reason for this phenomenon, according toParkinson, is that the “Officials make work for each other.” Thus, bureaucracy has thetendency to multiply its work and create new jobs for itself.

d. Self-aggrandisement : Bureaucrats are supposed to be the servants of the people in ademocratic set-up. But in reality, they have become their masters. Instead of serving thecommunity the average bureaucrats are engaged in fulfilling their own desires andaspirations. They disregard people’s interests and opinions. They maintain distancefrom the masses. In the name of people and community they are involved in self-seeking, nepotism and favouritism.

e. Corruption : Bureaucrats are alleged to have been indulged in corrupt practices.Corruption has become all-pervasive. It is the greatest hindrance to excellence in publicservice. It flows from top to bottom like water. Political corruption is consideredfountainhead / gangotri of all types of corruption in India. Hence, political corruptionneeds to be curbed if administrative corruption has to be checked. Corruption today hasbecome so much pervasive that it seems that honesty is the lack of opportunity ofcorruption.

f. Lack of neutrality : The administrators are supposed to be politically neutral. Theyshould not be committed to any party, leader or ideology. Their commitment must betowards Constitution, people and development. They have to be politically unbiased.Whichever party or leader comes to power, they have to serve with same zeal andenthusiasm. However, in actual practice, such things appear to be missing.

g. The concept of “Political Bureaucracy” has emerged in India. The bureaucrats havebeen greatly politicized. They don’t believe in political neutrality. Political neutralityseems to be withering away. The bureaucrats align themselves with political leaders inorder to serve their vested interests. They extend only such suggestions to the ministerswhich are palatable to them. They want to please ministers at any cost so that they mayremain in good books of ministers. They are always keen to adjust themselvesaccording to the wishes of ministers.

h. Departmentalism / Empire-building : Bureaucracy encourages the evil of splitting upthe work of government into a number of isolated and self-dependent sections, each



pursuing its own needs without any adequate correlation with the rest. There develops atendency on the part of these units to consider themselves as independent and isolatedunits. They tend to forget that they are but parts of a bigger whole and regard their ownlittle kingdoms as end in themselves.

i. Status-quoism: Indian bureaucracy is largely status-quo oriented and is more devoted tothe prevention of progress. It loves tradition and stands for conservatism. It resistsreforms and innovations. One can hardly expect that such a bureaucracy could beresponsive to the growing need, exceptions and aspirations of the people of the country.

6.5. Factors affecting Indian administrative cultureIn India there are various factors affecting Indian Administrative Culture. Every

administrative culture system is built upon the following factors which influences andaffects it. Some of the factors are as follows :

1. Individual Value System: All administrators have a philosophy; that is, anindividual value system which prioritizes basic convictions. A review of theliterature concludes that an individual’s value system is determined by culturalnorms, education and experience that he or she has been exposed to. This individualvalue system, when combined with the unique history of an organization,determines an administrator’s behaviour.We all know that no administrator functions in a vacuum as one is influencedheavily by his surroundings i.e. cultural values, beliefs, attitude prevalent in society,as well as the culture unique to the organization. A fact often overlooked however,is that the present has been determined by the past. Beside it an individual isinfluenced by the education. Here education is the understanding and interpretationof knowledge. After education comes the experience gained by working in anyorganization for a long period.

2. Family : We know family plays an important role in the society. Everyadministrator is a part of a family which in turn is a part of society. It is the familywhere a person learns his first lesson of life about what is bad and what is good; etc.The good qualities and behaviour which an administrator gets from his or herfamily helps them in work process also. Due to family impact Indians are moregods fearing than most other cultures, and we still have strong families and peerpressure to moderate our behaviour.

3. Socio-cultural dimension (Society) : Every administrator is a part of society. Indiansociety is a stratified one, both vertically and horizontally. The Hindus are dividedinto four major castes i.e. Brahmins, Vaishya, Kshatriya and Sudras and each castehas numerous subcastes. This has, in its turn, influenced the stratification processamong Muslims and Christians too. In modern times although the caste system isgradually shedding its traditional purpose, under the impact of universal suffrage, itevokes new meaning and serves other purposes.

4. Education : Education is very essential for mankind. In fact education is theunderstanding and interpretation of knowledge. Education tries to mould and helpin developing the aptitude of person and aim at increasing administrator’s personnelskill. Formal and informal both type of education is essential for public. These days



the Indian Administrative Services are joined not only by man and woman havingdegree of arts, social science, commerce and science but technocrats with B. Tech.,B.E. and M.B.B.S. degree. Thus after joining the service when decisions are takenby them they are influenced by the education which they have received.

5. Religion : Administrative culture of any country is influenced by its religion.Although India is a secular nation but majority of people is Hindus. The Hindureligion is rooted in a very powerful ideological system with unification of adivided society. In India there are religious foundations of administrative culture.

6. Political System : For the developing nations like India where speedysocioeconomic development has to be steadily pushed through, the nature, characterand culture of civil services assume special significance. The first problem is howto declass the civil service that culturally belonged the colonial era and served theimperial interest. As the Indian experience shows, the colonial administrativesystem was allowed to continue even after independence and it was thought that thechanged political leadership and institutional framework coupled with propertraining and motivation would bring about desired ‘cultural’ changes in theAdministrative Service. The result of all this was neutral, representative andpoliticized administrator a political.

7. Mass Media : We all know mass media like Radio, films; Television, Newspapers,books etc. play an important role in the administrative system. When Late ShreeRajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister in year 1984 promised, among other things, torevamp the public administration of the country. In 1985, a number of programmesbegan on the Indian Television under private initiative and these brought withintheir ambit the pathological problems of administration. Here mention manyparticularly be made of television serials like ‘Panorama’, ‘Sach Ki Parchhayian’(In the shadow of Truth), ‘Aaihna’ (Mirror), ‘Chaupal’ (related to villagers andfarmers), ‘Rajni’ (related to administrative problems faced by common man),‘Janvani’ (the voice of people), ‘Police Public’, ‘Ankhon Dekhi’ (Eye Seen), etc.Mass Media always served a useful purpose, in the sense of instilling a sense ofaccountability in the administration and so improving its efficiency.

8. Economic dimension : Among economic factors poverty, hunger, unemployment,

general scarcities are the chief features of the Indian economy. Some of these

themselves being the direct outcome of the economic plans, policies and strategies

of development followed over the decades. Beside all this the rapidly growing

population has partly wiped out the economic gains achieved by the country

through planning. Due to this there is disequilibrium between the public and

administration. The problem of poverty and unemployment in society results in

intense pressures on government jobs and even overstaffing government offices.

Shortages, compounded by government interference, breed pressures for supply and

consequent corruption. The administrator, since he controls the distribution of

essential commodities to the public, finds himself subjected to heavy pressures.

Thus, the prevailing political atmosphere, the falling standards of public life and the



loss of moral values among the politicians have bred a corresponding insensitivity,

demoralize and unresponsiveness among administrators.The public administration constitutes merely an aspect of the social system. As other

aspects such as value system, economic, social, political, cultural and educational, constantlyinteract with the administrative system. Hence enhancement of the administrative capabilityrequires changes in the social environment i.e. development of the society. So long as themajority of the public remain poor, uneducated and unaware of their rights and duties, theycannot properly participate in programs of development. Import of high technology can notdeliver the goods in the situation of general economic and social backwardness. So if the datareceived from the field are defective, the processing of the data on a computer by highlytrained specialist is of no use. Enhancement of administrative capability, therefore, requiresdevelopment of the society generally, even as administrative development helps all rounddevelopment.

The Indian administrative culture is noted for the following ills at all levels ofgovernance.

Chronic and almost incurable delays at all levels; Equally chronic habit of evading decision making; Non-availability or inaccessibility of officials at all levels to individual citizen; Singular lack of courtesy, consideration and concern to the grievances of individual

citizens or groups; Lack of a humane approach to the visitor in any government office; Failure and indifference of officials to bend their energies to issues affecting common

man; Time consuming meetings and discussions with ministers and high officials which are

mostly unproductive and which eat into administrative time; Spectacular schemes from political leadership which are mostly populist and fail to

touch the grassroots; Failure of system of inspection and controls which are time honoured tools of gauging

the work and efficiency at all levels; and Consequently corruption in the form of ‘speed money’ for getting irregular things done.

6.6. Corruption in IndiaThe Fobbes Asia conducted a survey recently showed that India as the Asia’s most

corrupt country. The bane of corruption runs deep here, it's permeated into every institution,every social program, and every element of our country's nervous system. It's not just mesaying this either, there's cold, hard facts and statistics supporting each of those claims. Here'sone for you right now - 54% of India's population has paid a bribe when accessing publicservices and institutions, that's more than 1 in 2 citizens.

In India, 38% of land deals involve some form of bribes, mostly because for thebuyer, that's the only option left. The entire nexus of government officials, politicians, judicialofficers, real estate developers and law enforcement officials control the property trade,wherein they acquire and sell land illegally. These groups also remain well protected and arehighly connected for the most part, making it nigh impossible to renege on a deal.



62 % of law enforcement officers take bribes: The police actually collects the highestamount of bribes. Passport verifications make up 30% of the average bribe paid by a regularIndian in a year, while traffic violations make up 25%. The methods are numerous and theamounts far-reaching, ranging from botched breathe analyser tests charging Rs. 2500 to Rs.500 for passport verification.

60% of road stops for truckers are for extorting moneyAccording to Transparency International, truckers pay 222 crore in bribes every year.

Authorities such as government regulators, police, forest and sales and excise force stoppageson roads, and 60% of these are for extorting money. These delays lead to an egregious loss inproductivity.

60% of people who got their driving license from an agent haven't taken the drivingexam.

The procedure to get a driving license in India is highly askew, with research showingthat it is possible for people with little to no ability to get a license through the use of agents.The Fobbs’ study showed that agents helping unqualified drivers obtain licenses and bypassthe legally required driving examination was a widespread practise. Among those surveyed,around 60% of the license holders hadn't even taken the licensing exam and 54% of thoselicense holders had failed an independent driving test.

31% of members of parliament have criminal cases against themPolitical parties are - surprise - the most corrupt institutions in India. They have a

corruption rate of 4.4 on a scale of 5 (1 being least corrupt rate and 5 being highest). In 2012,there were criminal cases pending against 31% of members of parliament and the legislativeassembly. The dismal state of affairs has led to a lot of political candidates actually promotingtheir criminality as an indication of their ability to defend the interests of their communities, afact that is as laughable as it is abysmal.

The monetary value of petty corruption in 11 basic services in government likeeducation, healthcare and the judiciary amounts to about Rs. 3,19,72,50,00,000 annually.World Bank showed that only 40% of grain handed out to the poor reaches its target. Thisreport says that aid programs in India are beset by corruption, bad administration and under-payments.6.7. Diversity and corruption in India

To understand the advent of corruption in India and to grasp its influence on society asa way of life, one must understand India’s history. India is a young country. It gained itsindependence in 1947 after 200 years of British rule. The British came to India via the EastIndia Company and over the decades they came to realise that India was neither a geopoliticalentity nor culturally homogeneous. The combined influences of a shift in focus from trade toterritory, and from commerce to political and military power – rife with the corruption of itsprivate stockholders – further divided an already diverse region. The thousands of smallkingdoms that made up the geography of Bharat (India) became weaker and more corrupt asthe years went on, in a way embedding the virus of corruption in India. In 1947, finding itselfreduced in power and ability after the Second World War, the British Empire left India.Governance came into the hands of the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru. In aneffort to completely eradicate Western influence, he made a strategic decision to adopt a



socialist approach vis-à-vis the economy. What followed over the next five decades waspainfully slow economic growth. Heightened government controls resulted in reducedeconomic opportunities. Increases in population, low per capita income, and slow GDP allcombined to create near hyperinflation. Low salaries of government employees (such asbureaucrats and the police), excessive regulations, complex tax and licensing systems, opaquebureaucracy, lack of opportunities, discretionary powers, government monopoly, and anantiquated legal system with a lack of transparent laws and processes only further exacerbatedan already tainted and corrupt system. Since 2005, India has ranked around the middle (90thout of 180 countries) on Transparency International’s table of perception of corruptionindex. Activities of corruption in India include the misuse of public property for private gainand have ranged from misappropriation of public money to abuse of power (including bribery)

Increased globalisation, greater access to global media and reporting and the work oforganisations such as Transparency International continued to expose corruption. While Indiawas slowly improving its standing – challenging and questionable practices endured in manysectors of the government, including hiring practices, measurement, and recording in civilsupplies departments and property tax assessments.Studies by the Comptroller and AuditorGeneral of India have repeatedly shown that the most severe levels of corruption could befound in customs, revenue collection, public works, and agencies in charge of licenses andpermits.The Central Vigilance Commission was created in 1964 and put in charge ofimplementing the Prevention of Corruption Act, focusing on high officials. Although over theyears the powers and mandate of the commission have been increased to make it moreeffective, its focus is still more on bureaucracy than politics. In 1992, India found itself nearlybankrupt and in severe debt, and under pressure from the World Bank, the country was forcedto liberalise its economy. What followed from there is the stuff of legend. Today, one mightsay that concept of India is 500 years old, and the nation itself is 70 years old, but its economyis only 25 years old. In this short period, India doubled its economy, carved out a niche foritself as a software provider to the world, and produced thousands of millionaires. The path ofliberalisation and the accompanying riches unfortunately did not free India of corruption, butcontinued to fuel the fire. Truckers out on India’s highways pay billions of rupees every year inbribes. Bureaucrats sitting in monopoly positions make it more difficult to do business in Indiaby creating stringent and complex compliance requirements that are difficult or impossible toachieve. Tax authorities seek new ways to benefit from the increased wealth of taxpayers, whoin turn invent creative ways to evade the tax. Corrupt politicians and industrialists joinedforces, influencing public thinking and sentiments through media houses owned by them. Whatfollowed over the last two decades were such widely reported controversies as theCommonwealth Games and Agusta Westland scams, and numerous allegations and arrestsinvolving politicians and representatives from the fodder, telecom, and coal industries.First steps against corruption

As with many revolutions, one person or event is later regarded as the spark thatilluminated the path to significant change. In 2011, social activist Kisan Baburao “Anna”Hazare began a hunger strike that ignited a nationwide anti-corruption movement and led tothe introduction of the Jan Lokpal Bill (Citizen’s Ombudsman Bill).While perhaps notrevolutionary in the traditional sense of the word, many would regard the 2014 election of



Narendra Modi as prime minister as trigger to significant change. The defeat of the longest-serving political party of India – the Indian National Congress – in favour of a new name andvoice from the Bharatiya Janata Party, and its securing of 282 seats in the general election,took many pundits by surprise. Analysts have suggested that that victory was attributed to boththe popularity of Modi and the loss of support for the Congress due to the corruption scandalsin its previous term, among other things, including the Hazare movement itself.The saying thatpower corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, however, the largest democracy in theworld had elected a new face, a new name, and brought to power a new party, and with ithopes for a more transparent chapter.Modi came to power after a strong performance as a statechief minister and receiving credit for policies to promote economic growth and efforts tocombat corruption in his home state of Gujarat. He focused his first attentions on thebureaucracy, and bureaucrats started reporting to work on time.In 2016, Modi did theunthinkable and took an action that amounted to using a brahmastra (weapon of annihilation inancient Sanskrit writings). He demonetised the 1,000-rupee and the 500-rupee notes andreplaced them with fresh currency. These denominations made up 90 percent of the currency incirculation in India, and citizens were given 40 days to deposit any cash they possessed intotheir banks. If the currency being deposited was unaccounted for, they had to declare it and paytaxes and penalties amounting to 50 per cent of the money. In case there was no declaration,penalties as high as 90 per cent and other charges would apply. The pain of demonetizationwas immense, with people struggling for liquidity and adopting digital transactions veryquickly. It is expected this will have a considerable impact on future government revenuecollections and make it possible to write off deficits.Corruption and poverty

There is no doubt that poverty and corruption are linked. In 2003, only 15 per cent ofthe government’s anti-poverty funds reached the poor. Anti-corruption laws have existed since1968, supported by agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation and the CentralVigilance Commission, but a lack of agency independence and a natural hesitancy to self-police or incriminate have resulted in many failures to enforce these laws effectively. Not onlydoes corruption in India worsen poverty, but it also drags the whole country’s developmentdown through resource depletion. Nevertheless, India has been developing and growing at arate higher than almost any other country in the world. If corruption were completelyeradicated, the rate of India’s economic growth could be in double-digit figures.6.8. Lok Pal and Lok Ayuktha

India’s effort to have an anti-graft ombudsman in the form of a Lokpal institution mayhave caught national attention only now. But parliament has made eight attempts since 1968 topass a Lokpal bill, a different version each time, all in vain.The bill was first brought beforethe fourth Lok Sabha in 1968 and passed in 1969. However, the house was dissolved, resultingin the first death of the bill.The legislation was revived in 1971, 1977, 1985, 1989, 1996, 1998,and 2001, but never survived. In September 2004, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said theCongress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government would lose no time in enactingthe bill. It finally took a mass mobilisation by Anna Hazare and his associates in April this yearto get the government to work on the Lokpal bill and bring it to parliament.The issue has gathered momentum with his current fast, which Friday entered its 11th day.



The latest Lokpal bill introduced in the Lok Sabha Aug 4 is the ninth version of the legislationbefore parliament. It is has been referred to a parliamentary standing committee and parliamentwill decide its fate. From 1968 to 2011, the bill has come before parliament under seven primeministers beginning with Indira Gandhi. Of them, only V.P. Singh, H.D. Deve Gowda and AtalBihari Vajpayee agreed to have prime ministers under the law’s purview.

However, none of these eight bills had the judiciary under its purview. “The idea of anombudsman first came up in parliament during a discussion on budget allocation for the lawministry in 1963. The first administrative reforms committee in 1966 recommended the settingup of two independent authorities at the central and state level to look into complaints againstpublic functionaries, including MPs,” according to PRS Legislative Research.

The first time parliament heard about Lokpal was in May 1968 when Indira Gandhiwas prime minister. The Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 1968, did not have either the primeminister or MPs under its purview.The bill, passed in 1969, never became law, as it lapsedafter the fourth Lok Sabha was dissolved. Indira Gandhi was still the prime minister in August1971 when the bill was again introduced in parliament. The 1971 legislation was never referredto any committee and it lapsed after the fifth Lok Sabha was dissolved. The third attempt wasmade by the Janata Party under Morarji Desai. The bill presented to parliament in July 1977did not include the prime minister but allowed for MPs to be brought under its purview.A joint select committee considered the bill and made recommendations, but the sixth LokSabha was dissolved soon after. Under Rajiv Gandhi, the Lok Sabha took up the bill onceagain in 1985 and it was referred to a joint select committee. Later, the bill was withdrawn bythe government. The government under V.P. Singh was the next to bring a Lokpal Bill in theninth Lok Sabha and it was sent to a parliamentary standing committee in 1989. But the billlapsed due to dissolution of the Lok Sabha. Again, the Third Front government under DeveGowda introduced the bill in 1996 and the parliamentary standing committee submitted itsrecommendations in 1997 suggesting amendments to it. The bill again lapsed after the LokSabha was dissolved. Vajpayee’s National Democratic Alliance government introduced thebill twice, once during the 12th Lok Sabha and again in the 13th Lok Sabha.

While the 12th Lok Sabha was dissolved before the government could take a view onthe parliamentary standing committee recommendations, the 12th Lok Sabha too met the samefate before the bill could be passed. At last the bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on 18th

December 2013 and Rajya Sabha passed the bill on 17 December 2013. The ‘Lokpal’ is thecentral governing body that has jurisdiction over all members of parliament and centralgovernment employees in case of corruption. Whereas, the ‘Lokayukta’ is similar to theLokpal, but functions on a state level. Scope of the ‘Lokpal’ is based on a national governmentlevel basis and the scope of the ‘Lokayukta’ relied on a state level. The main function is toaddress complaints of corruption, to make inquiries, investigations, and to conduct trials for thecase on respective state and central government with having responsibility to help in curbingthe corruption in the central and state government.Salient features of the Act1. The Lokpal to consist of a Chairperson and a maximum of eight Members, of which fiftypercent shall be judicial Members. Fifty per cent of members of Lokpal shall be from amongstSC, ST, OBCs, Minorities and Women.



2. The selection of Chairperson and Members of Lokpal shall be through a SelectionCommittee consisting of –

a) Prime Minister;b) Speaker of Lok Sabha;c) Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha;d) Chief Justice of India or a sitting Supreme Court Judge nominated by CJI;e) An eminent jurist to be nominated by the President of India

3. A Search Committee will assist the Selection Committee in the process of selection. Fiftyper cent of members of the Search Committee shall also be from amongst SC, ST, OBCs,Minorities and Women.4. Lokpal’s jurisdiction will cover all categories of public servants including Group ‘A’, ‘B’,‘C’ & ‘D’ officers and employees of Government. On complaints referred to CentralVigilance Commission by Lokpal, the CVC will send its report of Preliminary enquiry inrespect of Group ‘A’ and ‘B’ officers back to Lok pal for further decision. With respect toGroup ‘C’ and ‘D’ employees, CVC will proceed further in exercise of its own powers underthe CVC Act subject to reporting and review by Lokpal.5. All entities receiving donations from foreign source in the context of the ForeignContribution Regulation Act (FCRA) in excess of Rs.10 lakhs per year are brought under thejurisdiction of Lokpal.6. Lokpal will have power of superintendence and direction over any investigation agencyincluding CBI for cases referred to them by Lokpal.7. A high powered Committee chaired by the Prime Minister will recommend selection of theDirector, CBI.8. Attachment and confiscation of property of public servants acquired by corrupt means, evenwhile prosecution is pending.Enquiry procedureThe Lokpal’s inquiry wing is required to inquire into complaints within 60 days of theirreference. On considering an inquiry report the Lokpal shall-

1. order an investigation;2. initiate departmental proceedings; or3. close the case and proceed against the complainant for making a false and frivolous

complaint. The investigation shall be completed within 6 months. The Lokpal mayinitiate prosecution through its Prosecution Wing before the Special Court set up toadjudicate cases. The trial shall be completed within a maximum of two years.The recent amendment has amended Section 44.

Now the every public servant shall make declaration of their assets and liabilities in the formand manner as prescribed by government. It has abolished the previous 30 days timeline.Givesextension of the time given to public servants and trustees and board members of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to declare their assets and those of their spouses.6.9. Citizen and Administration

The concept of citizen-centric administration has been evolved in the context ofgovernance process in India. Despite of the role played by citizen as enjoying political right,the executive branch of the government has been designed as per the rules and regulations and



has given little access to the public. To ensure accountability of administration towards thepeople in general, there are a number of systemic interventions like social audit, citizen charterand right to information Act etc.6.10. Social AuditBasis of social audit

Social audit as a term was used as far back as the 1950s. There has been a flurry ofactivity and interest in the last seven to eight years in India and neighboring countries.Voluntary development organizations are also actively concerned.

Social audit is based on the principle that democratic local governance should becarried out, as far as possible, with the consent and understanding of all concerned. It is thus aprocess and not an event.What is a social audit?

A social audit is a way of measuring, understanding, reporting and ultimatelyimproving an organization’s social and ethical performance. A social audit helps to narrowgaps between vision/goal and reality, between efficiency and effectiveness. It is a technique tounderstand, measure, verify, report on and to improve the social performance of theorganization.

Social auditing creates an impact upon governance. It values the voice of stakeholders,including marginalized/poor groups whose voices are rarely heard. Social auditing is taken upfor the purpose of enhancing local governance, particularly for strengthening accountabilityand transparency in local bodies.

The key difference between development and social audit is that a social audit focuseson the neglected issue of social impacts, while a development audit has a broader focusincluding environment and economic issues, such as the efficiency of a project or programme.Objectives of social audit

1. Assessing the physical and financial gaps between needs and resources available forlocal development.

2. Creating awareness among beneficiaries and providers of local social and productiveservices.

3. Increasing efficacy and effectiveness of local development programmes.4. Scrutiny of various policy decisions, keeping in view stakeholder interests and

priorities, particularly of rural poor.5. Estimation of the opportunity cost for stakeholders of not getting timely access to

public services.Advantages of social audit(a) Trains the community on participatory local planning.(b) Encourages local democracy.(c) Encourages community participation.(d) Benefits disadvantaged groups.(e) Promotes collective decision making and sharing responsibilities.(f) Develops human resources and social capitalTo be effective, the social auditor must have the right to:



1. seek clarifications from the implementing agency about any decision-making, activity,scheme, income and expenditure incurred by the agency;

2. consider and scrutinize existing schemes and local activities of the agency; and3. access registers and documents relating to all development activities undertaken by the

implementing agency or by any other government department.This requires transparency in the decision-making and activities of the implementing

agencies. In a way, social audit includes measures for enhancing transparency by enforcing theright to information in the planning and implementation of local development activities.Public documents for social audit

a. All budget allocations, beneficiary lists, muster rolls, bills, vouchers, accounts, etc.must be available for public scrutiny.

b. All applications for licenses/permits and certificates issued by local self-governmentinstitutions must have a serial number. Registers indicating date of application anddate of clearance in each case should be available for reference by any applicant. Ifpossible, copies should be publicly displayed.

c. Public assessment of tax, exemptions, grants, etc., to ensure there are no complaintsof undue preferential treatment.

Several states have declared all Gram Panchayat plan documents related to beneficiaryselection, budget cost estimates, etc. to be public documents. A daily notice to be posted at thesite of all development works, lists names of workers, wages paid, cost and quantities ofmaterial, transport charges, etc.

The most appropriate institutional level for social audit is the Gram Sabha, which hasbeen given ‘watchdog’ powers and responsibilities by the Panchayati Raj Acts in most Statesto supervise and monitor the functioning of panchayat elected representatives and governmentfunctionaries, and examine the annual statement of accounts and audit reports. These areimplied powers indirectly empowering Gram Sabhas to carry out social audits in addition toother functions. Members of the Gram Sabha and the village panchayat, intermediatepanchayat and district panchayat through their representatives, can raise issues of socialconcern and public interest and demand an explanation.

The Gram Sabha should have the mandate to: inspect all public documents related tobudget allocations, list of beneficiaries, assistance under each scheme, muster rolls, bills,vouchers, accounts, etc., for scrutiny; examine annual statements of accounts and audit reports;discuss the report on the local administration of the preceding year; review local developmentfor the year or any new activity programme; establish accountability of functionaries foundguilty of violating established norms/rules; suggest measures for promoting transparency inidentifying, planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating relevant local developmentprogrammes; and ensure opportunity for rural poor to voice their concerns while participatingin social audit meetings.Social audit committees

Social audit can also be used for auditing the performance of all three PRI tiers with asocial audit committee at each level. These committees should not be permanent, but can be setup depending on the nature of programmes/schemes to be audited.



Social audit committee members can be drawn from among programme stakeholders. Itis advisable to use the services of retired functionaries of different organizations, teachers orpersons of impeccable integrity living in the Zilla Panchayat/Block Panchayat/GramPanchayat jurisdiction. Both facilitators and social audit committee members can be trained bysocial audit experts.Steps in social audit in local bodies

1. Clarity of purpose and goal of the local elected body.2. Identify stakeholders with a focus on their specific roles and duties. Social auditing

aims to ensure a say for all stakeholders. It is particularly important that marginalizedsocial groups, which are normally excluded, have a say on local development issuesand activities and have their views on the actual performance of local elected bodies.

3. Definition of performance indicators which must be understood and accepted by all.Indicator data must be collected by stakeholders on a regular basis.

4. Regular meetings to review and discuss data/information on performance indicators.5. Follow-up of social audit meeting with the panchayat body reviewing stakeholders’

actions, activities and viewpoints, making commitments on changes and agreeing onfuture action as recommended by the stakeholders.

6. Establishment of a group of trusted local people including elderly people, teachers andothers who are committed and independent, to be involved in the verification and tojudge if the decisions based upon social audit have been implemented.

7. The findings of the social audit should be shared with all local stakeholders. Thisencourages transparency and accountability. A report of the social audit meeting shouldbe distributed for Gram Panchayat auditing. In addition, key decisions should bewritten on walls and boards and communicated orally.

Key factors for successful social audit Level of information shared with and involvement of stakeholders, particularly of the

rural poor, women, and other marginalized sections. Commitment, seriousness and clear responsibilities for follow-up actions by elected

members of the Gram Panchayat. Involvement of key facilitators in the process.

How to enhance local capacities for social audit Organization of a mass campaign to increase public awareness about the meaning,

scope, purpose and objectives of social audit. Establishment of a team of social audit experts in each district who are responsible for

training social audit committee members (stakeholders). Implementation of training programmes on social auditing methods - conducting and

preparing social audit reports, and presentation at Gram Sabha meetings.Social development monitoring (SDM): a social audit process

SDM is a periodic observation activity by socially disadvantaged groups as localcitizens who are project participants or target beneficiaries. It could also take the form of actionintended to enhance participation, ensure inclusiveness, articulation of accountability,responsiveness and transparency by implementing agencies or local institutions, with adeclared purpose of making an impact on their socio-economic status.



ConclusionTo sum up, the following proposals can be made to make social audit a regular and

effective institution to promote the culture of transparency and accountability throughthe Gram Sabha.

1. States should enhance Gram Sabha powers to make them effective instruments ofparticipatory decision-making and ensuring accountability of PRIs in localdevelopment planning.

2. An agency like the Ombudsman can be set up to look into complaints of localmaladministration.

3. Development functionaries found guilty of violating established norms for localdevelopment planning should be punished.

4. It is important to ensure that rural poor are given due protection when they wish tostand up to speak against any misconduct.

6.11. Citizen charter21st century good governance era has witnessed a large number of innovative ideas

to introduce client focus orientation in bureaucratic behaviour in order to securetransparency and accountability in administration and to create alternate public deliverysystem. Citizen Charter is one of those initiatives.

A Citizen’s Charter is basically a set of commitments made by an organizationregarding the standards of service which it delivers. It is an instrument which seeks tomake an organization transparent, accountable and citizen friendly. It is based on thepremise that the Citizen is “King” and government organizations exist not to rule but toserve the citizens. Citizen’s Charters are merely reflections of this principle. In order toensure that both the service provider as well as citizens realize that public agencies aremeant to provide service, each organization should spell out the services it has to performand then specify the standards/norms for these services.

t was first launched in U.K. by John Major in 1991 through Citizen Charter MarkAward. Later on various countries adopted it through different names. Example : Australia(Service Charter, 1997), Belgium (Public Service Users’ Charter 1992), Canada (ServiceStandards Initiative, 1995), France (Service Charter, 1992), India (Citizens’ Charter,1997), Jamaica (Citizens’ Charter 1994), Malaysia (Client Charter,1993), Portugal (TheQuality Charter in Public Services, 1993), and Spain(The Quality Observatory, 1992)(OECD, 1996).Characteristics of an ideal charter: Brief and clear description of services Standards in terms of time and quality of services. Procedure in getting the services Clear description of costs Specification of grievance redressal mechanism Provision of appellate body Participation of both citizens and employees in framing of charter Obligation of citizens Feedback mechanism



And lastly, charter should be written in short, simple and dejargonised language.Themes on which citizen charter is based

a. Standard : standard of performanceb. Choice: services would be produced according to choice of citizens.c. Quality: quality should be satisfactory to people.d. Value: value to tax payer’s money.

Principle to be adopted in citizen charter: Set standards of service; Be open and provide full information; Consult and involve; Encourage access and promote choice; Treat all fairly; Put things right when they go wrong; Use resources effectively; Innovate and improve; and Work with other providers.

Benefits of citizen charter Citizens come to know about organizational activities and procedures and

performance, thereby facilitating transparency. Reduces corruption Promotes good governance Ensures accountability It leads to citizen friendliness and citizen convenience It is citizen friendly and convenient Increases morality in administration Raises efficiency and effectiveness in public delivery system. Reduces cost Increases participation Prevents delay and red tapism

Indian experiment with citizen charter In India, the idea was first mooted by the consumer organization called

common cause in 1994.The next move came up in Conference of ChiefSecretaries in 1996, to develop an Agenda for Effective and ResponsiveAdministration. The conference recommended a phased introduction ofcitizen’s charter.

Chief Ministers’ Conference in May 1997; one of the key decisions of theConference was to formulate and operationalise Citizens’ Charters at theUnion and State Government levels

In 1997, Department of Administrative Reform & Public Grievancessimultaneously formulated guidelines for structuring a model charter as well asa list of do’s and don’ts to enable various government departments to bring outfocused and effective charters.



Citizen Charter Key IssuesA survey done on Citizen Charter highlighted following shortcomings: In a majority of cases, the Charters were not formulated through a consultative

process By and large, service providers were not familiar with the philosophy, goals and

main features of the Charter Adequate publicity to the Charters had not been given in any of the Departments

evaluated. In most Departments, the Charters are only in the initial or middle stage ofimplementation

No funds have been specifically earmarked for awareness generation of Citizens’Charter or for orientation of the staff on various components of the Charter.

Some important ministries have not adopted Citizen Charter on the ground that theyare not public organisation like Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of HumanResource Development etc.

Other Ministries have failed to implement Citizen Charter despite having it likeMinistry of Rural Development, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Ministry of Women andChild Development

General weakness of citizen charter Poor design and weak content. No mention of citizen’s responsibility. Absence of penal provisions in case of non-implementation of the spirit of charter. General attitude is that Citizen Charters are directed from top No training has been provided to staff Transfer of Staff at crucial stage of Charter formulation/implementation Standard of Service delivery marked in Charters are either too lax or too high Some charters are too detailed and some are two brief. Traditional culture of secrecy. Less budgetary support. Inadequate Groundwork by Government Agencies for making Citizen Charter. In

most cases they had done just form filling exercise as observed by Public AccountsCommittee.

Charters are rarely updated according to changing needs and technology. Their resistance to change within Bureaucracy itself which was given the task for

delivery of Services.6.12. Right to information Act 2005

Until the 20th century, formal censorship not right to know was the common practice ofmost states. Autocrats frequently imprisoned critics, shutdown the process, forced author’s intoexile, or censored written and artistic works. The struggle against licensing requirements inGreat Britain in the 17th century, the American Bill of Rights, and the French Declaration ofthe Rights of Man expanded standards of freedom in a way that inspired new realms ofindependent expression and thought not especially in Europe in the 19th and early 20thcenturies but also in other parts of the word.



Freedom of speech and expression could be considered one of the most fundamental ofall freedoms. While it is of dubious value to rate one freedom over another, freedom ofexpression is a basic foundation of democracy. It is a core freedom without which democracycould not exist. The term encompasses not only freedom of speech and media but also freedomof thought, culture and intellectual inquiring. Freedom of expression guarantees everyone’sright to speak and write openly without state interference, including the right to criticizeinjustices, illegal activities and incompetence’s. It guarantees the right to know and right toinform the public and to offer opinions of any kind, to advocate change, to give the minoritythe opportunity to be heard and became the majority and to challenge the rise of state tyrannyby force of words.

Enactment of Right to Information Act, 2005, has ushered a new era leading us towardsthe development of the participatory democracy. It has led to a series of debates among thepublic spirited persons, NGOs, intellectuals and has also stirred common masses. Right toInformation implicitly forms part of fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution ofIndia. Article 19 (1) (a) dealing with freedom of speech and expression is deemed to containthe basis of right to information. Democracy in real terms requires public to act as a sovereignforce. Abraham Lincoln in his famous Gettysburg Address said that “democracy is governmentof the people, for the people and by the people”. In this regard Dr. Ambedkar told in LokSabha during Constitutional Assembly Debate that the people have fed up with the concept, ofthe people and for the people and they really want government by the people. This postulationcan be materialized only by an informed citizenry. The conceptual roots of democracy lie inArticles 23 and 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 and in Part III and PartIV of the Constitution of India. In this regard, right to information is part of the constitutionalframework enshrined as freedom of speech and expression. Explicit exercise of this right wasnot possible due to its derivative and implicit existence within the Constitution. This facilitatedthe need of a specific legislation enabling the citizens to enjoy the right available to them.Therefore there was an immediate need of a specific legislation to provide information to thecitizens as a matter of right and to create a climate and culture for the right to information. Thesame message echoed in the juristic exposition by Justice Mathew in Kesavananda Bharati v.State of Kerala1 stated in these prominent words like: "Fundamental rights themselves have nofixed content; most of them are empty vessels into which each generation must pour its contentin the light of its experience.

Access to information held by a public authority was not possible until 2005. Lack ofinformation precluded a person to realize his socio - economic aspirations, because he had nobasis to participate in the debate or question the decision making process even if it washarming him. Official Secret Act, 1923 acted as a remnant of colonial rule shroudingeverything in secrecy. The common did not have any legal right to know about the publicpolicies and expenditures. It was quite ironical that people who voted the persons responsiblefor policy formation to power and contributed towards the financing of huge costs of publicactivities were denied access to the relevant information. This culture of secrecy resulted inprolific growth of corruption. In face of non-accountability of the public authorities and lack ofopenness in the functioning of government, abuse of power and unscrupulous diversion of thepublic money was the order of the day. Under such conditions, public and various NGOs



demanded greater access to the information held by public authorities. The governmentacceded to their demand by enacting RTI Act 2005.Origin of Right to Information

Global Overview The world in the 21st century has marked many a strides andparadigm shifts in the understanding, analysis and contextualization of the various cultures ofthe world affairs. RTI which is the cynosure of this discourse is not something new. In factthere is a long history at international level towards the attainment of this right andmobilization of the masses for achieving it. With development of human ideals andestablishment of democratic governments in most of the civilized countries, this topic came tothe fore. Many international organizations and regional groups recognized this right to be partof their systems.

Constitutional Provisions facilitating Right to Information in India The incorporation offundamental rights as enforceable rights in the modern Constitutional documents as well as inthe internationally recognized charter of human rights, emanate from the doctrine of naturallaw and natural rights. In India at the time of national movement, freedom fighter promised tothe people of India that they will provide the natural rights as fundamental rights through the“Suprema lex”, that is Constitution to the people of India. These fundamental rights are similarto human rights as declared by the United Nation in 194814. In this context, Supreme Courtsaid in Chairman, Railway Board v. Chandrima Das15 that “the applicability of UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights and principals thereof may have to be read, it need to, into thedomestic jurisprudence.” It traces the events that expedited the passage of the 2005 Act, whichprovided the citizens of our country an important instrument to ensure transparency ingovernance. Rights are the interests which are recognized and protected by law. The sanctity ofright enhances if it is adopted by the Constitution of a country. In Indian context, where thecommon people were subject of negligence for centuries, constitutional principles are the onlyhopes that can ensure freedom of all sorts. Information has a pivotal role in strengtheningpublic by making them knowledgeable.

Accessing information, however in a developing country like India is a cumbersometask to be accomplished by majority of less educated and illiterate citizenry oblivious of itsrights. Red tapism and bureaucratic supremacy is highly hesitant in empowering people.Moreover the colonial legacy which was copious with policy of secrecy still haunts the system.Here the Constitution of India comes to protect the common masses by providing them certainfundamental rights within Part III. It is not easy to violate these fundamental rights except theprocedures laid down by the law, which must be in the consonance with spirit of Constitution,Similarly, RTI is a right imbibed within Article 19 (1) (a) of the constitution. The Constitutionof India although incorporates provisions of various leading democracies, is primarily foundedon bedrock of Government of India Act, 1935. The system of governance therefore is not freefrom many vestiges of past which constituted a stumbling block in the free flow of informationto the people.

The right to information has not been expressly provided in the constitution. It isderived from the Article 19 (1) (a). That is to say, it is implicitly imbibed within theconstitutional framework. However, judiciary in several landmark cases has expressly heldRTI as natural concomitant of Article 19 (1) (a). Let us now see some important cases which



raised RTI to the status of a constitutional right because of the juristic interpretation of thelearned judges Judicial activism has carved the sculpture out of Article 19 (1) (a) - which is thebedrock of democracy. Upon a thorough analysis it can be safely stated that direction towardsthe realization of RTI within the constitutional ambit incepted right from the verdict inHamdard Dawakhana v. Union of Indian. Supreme Court for the first time declared RTI to bepart of Article 19 (1) (a) in Bennett Coleman v. Union of India18, where it held NewsprintControl Order of 1972-1973 issued under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 to be ultravirus Article 19 (1) (a) of the constitution. Ray, CJ in the majority judgment opined that, "It isindisputable that by freedom of the press is meant the right of all citizens to speak, publish andexpress their views. The freedom of press embodies the right of the people to read." Here whatis refereed as 'right of the people to read' refers to the right of the readers to get theinformation.

In Dinesh Trivedi v. Union of India, the apex court dealt with the right to information.Emphasizing the importance of this right, Court observed “Democracy expects openness andopenness is concomitant of a free society and the sunlight is the best disinfectant.” In this Case,while considering the questions of the disclosure of the Vohra Committee Report the SupremeCourt once again acknowledged the importance of open government in a participativedemocracy.

The court observed that, “In modern constitutional democracies, it is axiomatic thatcitizens have a right to know about the affairs of the government which, having been electedby them, seeks to formulate sound policies of governance aimed at their welfare”. Thestrongest exposition in this regard came from Justice K. K. Mathew in State of U. P. v. RajNarainwho emphasized that in “government of responsibility like ours where all the agents ofthe public must be responsible for their conduct, there can be but a few secrets. The people ofthis country have a right to know every public act, everything that is done in a public way bythe public functionaries.” The facts of this case were that Raj Narain who challenged thevalidity of Mrs. Gandhi's election required disclosure Blue Books which contained the tourprogram and security measures taken for the Prime Minister. Though the disclosure was notallowed, Mathew, J. held that the people of country were entitled to know the particulars ofevery public transaction in all its hearing.

The major breakthrough was attained in S. P. Gupta v. Union of India when the apexcourt imparted constitutional status to RTI. The point of contention in this case was again withregards to the claim for privilege laid by the government of India in respect disclosure ofcertain documents including correspondence between Chief justice of India and the ChiefJustice of Delhi High Court in connection with the confirmation of Justice Kumar who was anadditional Judge of the Delhi High Court. Justice Bhagwati, in his case opined that the conceptof open government stating it to be the direct emanation from the right to know which seems tobe implicit in the right of free speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1) (a) of theConstitution. It was held by the learned Judge that, RTI or access to information is essential foran ideally successful democratic way of life. Hence, it is imperative that disclosure ofinformation regarding the functioning of Government must be the rule and secrecy is justifiedonly where the strictest requirement of public interest demands.



The RTI is not exclusively traceable in Article 19 (1) (a) only. There are some otherprovisions too, which in some or the other way provide right to access the information or toobtain the information to concerned persons. Article 22 (1) of the Constitution of India entitlesevery person who is detained to know the grounds of his or her detention. Similarly, Article311 (2) of the Constitution provides that a government servant is entitled to know why he orshe is being dismissed or removed or reduced in rank and to be given an opportunity to makerepresentation against the proposed action. The horizon of RTI has expanded so much so thatSupreme Court in a recent judgment has considered RTI to be the offshoot of Article 21 of theConstitution of India.Movement for Right to Information in India

Paradoxes are galore in our system. But movements by the masses for a right to whichthey are entitled by the virtue of bring the part of democracy is a disturbing aspect. However itis true that, while the common public has been aware of the importance of RTI, those wieldingthe political clout have been reluctant in transforming the right into practical legal reality. It allbegan in 1990 when the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS), a collective of farmers andlabourers, was formed in Devdungri, Rajasthan. Members of the collective were working for astate employment generation scheme, yet were being paid significantly less than theguaranteed minimum wage.

This enticed them to demand their legal entitlement. In response they got an answerthat the official documents are not consonant with the necessary work that ought to be done bythem. Such official documents were wrapped in the walls of bureaucratic 'secrecy' unavailableeven to the persons, to which they were related. However, some clues by the sympatheticofficer indicated towards enormous anomalies. Tackling these discrepancies required someunique medium to sensitize the people directly and easily for this purpose; MKSS adopted themeans of placing the disclosed information in the public domain through village based publichearing called as jan sunwais. With the beginning of the RTI entered with this movement,which made people realize that secrecy enabled corrupt officials to siphon off minimum wagesand other entitlements of the poor. A movement demanding the RTI was thus born and its firstchampions were the disempowered rural workers in the remote rural area of Rajasthan.Salient features of right to information act, 2005:

The term Information includes any mode of information in any form of record,document, e-mail, circular, press release, contract sample or electronic data etc.

Any citizen (excluding the citizens within J&K) may request information from a ‘publicauthority’ (a body of Government or ‘instrumentality of State’) which is required to replyexpeditiously or within thirty days.

Citizens have a right to: request any information (as defined); take copies of documents;inspect documents, works and records; take certified samples of materials of work; andobtain information in the form of printouts, diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or inany other electronic mode.

The Act relaxes the Official Secrets Act of 1889 which was amended in 1923 and variousother special laws that restricted information disclosure in India. In other words, the Actexplicitly overrides the Official Secrets Act and other laws in force as on 15 June 2005 tothe extent of any inconsistency.



Applicant can obtain Information within 30 days from the date of request in a normalcase. In specific circumstances Information can be obtained within 48 hours from time ofrequest. If it is a matter of life or liberty of a person.

The Act also requires every public authority to computerise their records for widedissemination and to proactively publish certain categories of information so that thecitizens need minimum recourse to request for information formally. The Act, inparticular, requires every public authority to publish 16 categories of information. Thisincludes the particulars of its organisation, functions and duties; powers and duties of itsofficers and employees; procedure followed in the decision making process; norms setfor discharge of its functions; rules, regulations, instructions, manuals and records, heldby it or under its control or used by its employees for discharging its functions; etc.

The Act enumerates the types of information(s) that are exempted fromdisclosure.[7] However, these exempted information(s) or those exempted under theOfficial Secrets Act can be disclosed if public interest in disclosure overweighs the harmto the protected interest.[8] Also, the exempted information(s) would cease to beexempted if 20 years have lapsed after occurrence of the incident to which theinformation relates.

Penalty for refusal to receive an application for information or for not providinginformation is Rs. 250/- per day but the total amount of penalty should not exceed Rs.25,000/-

If an applicant is not supplied information within the prescribed time of 30 days or 48hours, as the case may be, or is not satisfied with the information furnished to him, hemay prefer an appeal to the first appellate authority who is an officer senior in rank to thePIO. If still not satisfied the applicant may prefer a second appeal with the CentralInformation Commission (CIC)/State Information Commission (SIC) within 90 daysfrom the date on which the decision should have been made by the first appellateauthority or was actually received by the appellant.

Key provisions: Section 2(h): Public authorities means all authorities and bodies under the Constitution

or any other law, and inter alia includes all authorities under the Central, stategovernments and local bodies. The civil societies substantially funded, directly orindirectly, by the public funds also fall within the ambit’

Section 4 (1)(b): Maintain and proactively disclose information. Section 6: Prescribes simple procedure for securing information. Section 7: Fixes time limit for providing information(s) by PIOs. Section 8: Only minimum information exempted from disclosure Section 19: Two tier mechanism for appeal Section 20: Provides penalties in case of failure to provide information on time,

incorrect, incomplete or misleading or distorted information. Section 23: Lower courts are barred from entertaining suits or applications. However, the

writ jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and high courts under Articles 32 and 225 of theConstitution remains unaffected.

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